Structured in a “this is the world, look how we got there” manner, allows the creators to give the characters a little room to breathe under the required exposition that threatens to drown the book in words. It’s not that the words are necessarily bad, its just that there is such a damn lot of them!
The book is an ensemble piece, with each stop along an irregular timeframe introducing each character with the first few pages hinting at their future; apparently it is the journey and destination that is important!
The book is written by Priest and Joseph Phillip Illidge with the pairing laying the foundations well, with interesting divergences into the past to bring us through the characters various paths. Story wise, the overall theme is that a major Event occurs changing a handful of people. Sounds familiar? The pair succeed with their aim, yet I can’t help but feel that the book will only go as far as the characters, who the readers need to relate to. This then is the challenge for this pair of writers.
The art is by Marco Turini and Will Rosado. Normally, I am not a huge fan of books by committee. Yet here, necessity is the mother of all invention, with different artists taking on different aspects of the book. Shamefully, each section doesn’t allude to who did what, so take a guess. For me the majority of the book feels like a Valiant book in both layout and pencil style. Looking through the pages, I found that the art from “La Dama en El Autobus” and “ Monkeys” to be the strongest, with ink that darkens the world, almost hinting at the disaster that is waiting to happen.  Jessica Kholinne provides the colors, mixing traditional schemes with more experimental styles later in the book.
New universes can be tricky things to create. One false step and the best laid plans end up as big balls of gas! As such, it’s a brave step for The Lion Forge to take. That said the quality of the book in both writing and art is serviceable enough that will garner some attention. As with the impact and  ramifications of The Event on the characters inside, we will find out all in due time.
Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 3 Stars
Colors – 3 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
(W) Christopher Priest, Joseph Illidge (A/CA) Marco Turini, Jessica Kholinne
Publisher: Lion Forge Comics’ Catalyst Prime
Author Profile
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I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow
Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network
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