Review: Celes Steel – Murder City Meltdown Pt 2
The more I do this, reviewing, the more I come back to this idea that comics (and indeed most forms of art) can be broadly divided into two categories. There are those stories that are seeking a greater truth or have a deeper meaning. Then there are those stories whose sole purpose is to entertain. Both concepts have merit and both are necessary. Celes Steel most definitely falls into the latter category. Similar to a book I reviewed several months ago, Lords of Chaos, Celes Steel hearkens back to pure Saturday morning cartoon action and is unabashedly cliche and over the top in its presentation. The end result is an entertaining visual spectacle that can be read at your leisure and enjoyed by even the most casual of comic book fans.
Celes Steel is written by Luke Kiedron and is intended to be a companion piece to future video games following the same superhero team and it’s setting, Murder City. In that light, much of the artwork and attendant color, by Jesus Wvence and Ramzy Kamen respectively, has that video game/animated action quality that hearkens back to eighties side-scrollers like Double Dragon or Rygar. However, as is to be expected, the art in the book has more of a pulp quality to it while the intended video game graphics are a pixellated homage to old school video games.
In this second part of Murder City Mayhem; Celes Steel, a team of super-powered guardians empowered by The Star Lords, are pursing Manndred Stanning and his associates. The machinations of the villain in question have rotted the City of Magpool and indeed the world. In point of fact, this corrupt and morally bankrupt industrialist has done so much damage to Magpool that it now has the nom de guerre Murder City. Celes Steel, hoping to capture Magpool, assaulted his 
headquarters but were met with heavy resistance. Magpool and his henchmen deploy overwhelming technological constructs and biological experiments to slow Celes Steel. Indeed, even though the heroes exhibit incredible powers, they are over matched and in mortal danger as the issue comes to an end.
This book is a lot of fun to read and the setting is unique and full of promise. The diverse group of heroes in Celes Steel exhibit a wide range of powers and personalities. However, I must note that while I enjoyed this book it did leave me wanting more detail and back story (I’m greedy that way). I hope that Kiedron will provide more detail in the future, but for the moment I feel like I’ve been flung into the middle of a barroom brawl with no real idea of the who and why of the matter. I know that the bar, Murder City, is a mess and I know who the bad and good guys are, but that is about it. Similarly, the artwork and color are decent but they need more polish as the series continues. The art can be inconsistent, with some very well drawn panels standing next to some panels that seem awkward or flat. Particular attention should be paid to the inking in future issues as this would provide the depth that the art sometimes lacks. In addition, the color is sometimes flat and one-dimensional; needing more shading and nuance. All of these things are offered solely as constructive criticism though, as the book itself IS entertaining and not visually unappealing. In short, this is an indie series with promise and I hope to see more from this creative team.
Story – 3 of 5 Stars
Art – 3.75 of 5 Stars
Inking – 2.75 of 5 Stars
Color – 3 of 5 Stars
Letters – 4 of 5 Stars
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Story – Luke Kiedron
Art – Jesus Wvence
Letters – Ramzy Kamen
Author Profile
- Nemesis is a poet, writer and author of the upcoming novel The Long Game. He is a writer of science fiction and supernatural thrillers. Besides novels and short stories he writes for UK based ASAP Comics developing new stories for Level 8 and OPSEC. Nem is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and tries to bring those experiences into his writing.
He lives and works out of his home in Riverside, California with his wife and three children. When not writing he enjoys reviewing comic books and graphic novels for ComicCrusaders.com and living the Southern California life with his family.
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