Convention Rumblings
Feb. 7th, 2005 09:46 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
captain_slinkyYes, I *will* be polluting your Friends List with mni-reviews of crap I got at the convention as I finish with it or think of it. Hope you don't mind!
First up, a review.
The Gift: A horror comic? Each issue is a self-contained modern horror story of supernatural revenge as enabled by a mysterious drifter. Each one seems to follow a standard formula: Modern-day horrific situation (Mafia-esque murder, Date Rape, Child Abuse, stalker, etc) occours, usually resulting in the death of our protagonist. Our mysterious "Ancient One (in trenchcoat and big floppy hat, complete with spooky glowey eyes) gives the dying/dead/troubled person a "gift" that in turn bestowes them with supernatural powers that enable the ironic demise of the "bad guy" in the story. In the end, everyone is dead (heroes and villains) except for The Ancient One, who keeps on looking for others to give "The Gift" to, as he has done through all time. But what exactly is the end result? Why is The Ancient One doing this? Only time will tell...
I LOVE the idea! I love comics that are each issue a self-contained story, but can give you a bigger picture if you read the entire series. The horrific situsations are suitably exagerated to give a person "The Willies" because they're all things that we know happen in this world. I really, really, REALLY want to like this comic book, but there are two things that keep me from whole-heartedly enjoying it; the writing and the artwork.
The writing just doesn't grip me. I don't know what it is. He's just trying to hard or something? It's just not suspenseful, like I would expect form a HORROR comic. It's a style of writng better suited to a Super Hero book, I guess. Which brings me to the artwork! Remember all the gazillion of Image Comics that came out in the early 90's? All the Liefeld/Lee/McFarlane wannabees that al looked the exact same? That's the artwork they used here, and it just seems out of place for what they're trying to do. For instance, the terrible tale of the girl who is date raped/gang-raped/killed/burried in the dessert. It would have been much more tense if (a) all the guys doing this looked like normal people instead of body building soap-opera actors, and if she had looked a bit less like a swimsuit model in a tube top and mini skirt that barely covered her muffin. Matter of fact, I think that a more subdued, realistic artwork would have made even the writng seem better in this book. But as it was, it's just too cross-hatched and dynamic to make any of the horror seem *real*.
All in all? I think it gets at least 2 (out of 5) stars.
One Star: You will be mocked mercilessly if I see you reading this.
Two Stars: Pick up the TPB if you can get it at a good discount, but don't go out of your way for it.
Three Stars: Get the TPB. You'll be ammused!
Four Stars: Actually worth picking up the new issues every month! Add it to your pull box at your local Comic Shop!
Five Stars: Become obsesive! Track down everything that the writer and/or artist has ever don! Fly cross-country to meet the creators! Start a Yahoo Group dedicated to it!
First up, a review.
The Gift: A horror comic? Each issue is a self-contained modern horror story of supernatural revenge as enabled by a mysterious drifter. Each one seems to follow a standard formula: Modern-day horrific situation (Mafia-esque murder, Date Rape, Child Abuse, stalker, etc) occours, usually resulting in the death of our protagonist. Our mysterious "Ancient One (in trenchcoat and big floppy hat, complete with spooky glowey eyes) gives the dying/dead/troubled person a "gift" that in turn bestowes them with supernatural powers that enable the ironic demise of the "bad guy" in the story. In the end, everyone is dead (heroes and villains) except for The Ancient One, who keeps on looking for others to give "The Gift" to, as he has done through all time. But what exactly is the end result? Why is The Ancient One doing this? Only time will tell...
I LOVE the idea! I love comics that are each issue a self-contained story, but can give you a bigger picture if you read the entire series. The horrific situsations are suitably exagerated to give a person "The Willies" because they're all things that we know happen in this world. I really, really, REALLY want to like this comic book, but there are two things that keep me from whole-heartedly enjoying it; the writing and the artwork.
The writing just doesn't grip me. I don't know what it is. He's just trying to hard or something? It's just not suspenseful, like I would expect form a HORROR comic. It's a style of writng better suited to a Super Hero book, I guess. Which brings me to the artwork! Remember all the gazillion of Image Comics that came out in the early 90's? All the Liefeld/Lee/McFarlane wannabees that al looked the exact same? That's the artwork they used here, and it just seems out of place for what they're trying to do. For instance, the terrible tale of the girl who is date raped/gang-raped/killed/burried in the dessert. It would have been much more tense if (a) all the guys doing this looked like normal people instead of body building soap-opera actors, and if she had looked a bit less like a swimsuit model in a tube top and mini skirt that barely covered her muffin. Matter of fact, I think that a more subdued, realistic artwork would have made even the writng seem better in this book. But as it was, it's just too cross-hatched and dynamic to make any of the horror seem *real*.
All in all? I think it gets at least 2 (out of 5) stars.
One Star: You will be mocked mercilessly if I see you reading this.
Two Stars: Pick up the TPB if you can get it at a good discount, but don't go out of your way for it.
Three Stars: Get the TPB. You'll be ammused!
Four Stars: Actually worth picking up the new issues every month! Add it to your pull box at your local Comic Shop!
Five Stars: Become obsesive! Track down everything that the writer and/or artist has ever don! Fly cross-country to meet the creators! Start a Yahoo Group dedicated to it!
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no subject
Date: 2005-02-07 06:52 pm (UTC)*watches her money disappear into the comic vortex*
Aieeeeee!
no subject
Date: 2005-02-07 07:06 pm (UTC)