Wednesday, August 22, 2007
The Mourning Star by Kazimir Strzepek
My first review. I'm only going to cover books I like, because (as those who know me can attest) I'm a pretty critical and negative dude overall. But who wants to focus on that? I will call it:
"The Mourning Star" seems to spring from a mind obsessed equally with indie comics and Dungeons and Dragons. It also seems very much like an early work, an art student too stubborn to create anything but the fantasy epic running wild in his head. I see a lot of new cartoonists creating work like this, ripe out of college: untethered, giving in to every crazy whim. It's easy for me to spot because that's exactly what I did. And while I, and many others, created what I'd call a baroque epic "mess", Kaz has created a work that I'd call "just short of absolutely fantastic."
If you make a checklist of all the things a pulp fantasy needs, this has got it: an enormous cast of characters (complete with an index in the back), giant beasts, treks across broken landscapes, weird races, melee, a dude with amnesia and a destiny. It doesn't have a map. At least not in the book. But I will bet money that Kaz has got one stored away somewhere, if only in his head. The world is interesting, feels complete, and you believe it, even though we only get a tiny glimpse.
But before you get the wrong idea by my list of clichés, know that this is anything but stock. Imagine those elements filtered through raw art comic sensibilites, made by someone reared in the black & white indie mold. It's kinetic, like Stan Sakai's "Usagi" or a more cartoony Miyazaki. And it's got some straight-up strange/awesome bits. Like that amnesiac with a destiny? His weapon of choice is dual scissors! Plus, these characters aren't even human. And they aren't that Tolkien elf nonsense either. I haven't a clue what they are, like all slight variations on goblin/bear hybrids. That's pretty strange. But it works. Kaz is just completely confident of this world and characters. That's the bottom line of why it is so great.
As with big epics, the problem is whether this thing is going to continue and be as long and unwavering as it needs to be. This just feels like the first of what could be a twenty volume set, or something thereabouts. The story is not self-contained so the overall success of "Mourning Star" has yet to be seen. Also, a small nitpick is the format. It seems like there is an art comics trend that thinks books are better if they are tiny and square. I've seen too many like this, and while it reads fine, I would much rather it be larger so I can see the cool artwork and fit it on my shelf.
Overall, a brilliant book I'd recommend to any indie comics or fantasy fan. There's a short preview here (it was originally called "Death Star," aren't you glad he changed it?). But just go buy the thing, it's worth it.
August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
January 2008
February 2008
March 2008
June 2008
"The Mourning Star" seems to spring from a mind obsessed equally with indie comics and Dungeons and Dragons. It also seems very much like an early work, an art student too stubborn to create anything but the fantasy epic running wild in his head. I see a lot of new cartoonists creating work like this, ripe out of college: untethered, giving in to every crazy whim. It's easy for me to spot because that's exactly what I did. And while I, and many others, created what I'd call a baroque epic "mess", Kaz has created a work that I'd call "just short of absolutely fantastic."
If you make a checklist of all the things a pulp fantasy needs, this has got it: an enormous cast of characters (complete with an index in the back), giant beasts, treks across broken landscapes, weird races, melee, a dude with amnesia and a destiny. It doesn't have a map. At least not in the book. But I will bet money that Kaz has got one stored away somewhere, if only in his head. The world is interesting, feels complete, and you believe it, even though we only get a tiny glimpse.
But before you get the wrong idea by my list of clichés, know that this is anything but stock. Imagine those elements filtered through raw art comic sensibilites, made by someone reared in the black & white indie mold. It's kinetic, like Stan Sakai's "Usagi" or a more cartoony Miyazaki. And it's got some straight-up strange/awesome bits. Like that amnesiac with a destiny? His weapon of choice is dual scissors! Plus, these characters aren't even human. And they aren't that Tolkien elf nonsense either. I haven't a clue what they are, like all slight variations on goblin/bear hybrids. That's pretty strange. But it works. Kaz is just completely confident of this world and characters. That's the bottom line of why it is so great.
As with big epics, the problem is whether this thing is going to continue and be as long and unwavering as it needs to be. This just feels like the first of what could be a twenty volume set, or something thereabouts. The story is not self-contained so the overall success of "Mourning Star" has yet to be seen. Also, a small nitpick is the format. It seems like there is an art comics trend that thinks books are better if they are tiny and square. I've seen too many like this, and while it reads fine, I would much rather it be larger so I can see the cool artwork and fit it on my shelf.
Overall, a brilliant book I'd recommend to any indie comics or fantasy fan. There's a short preview here (it was originally called "Death Star," aren't you glad he changed it?). But just go buy the thing, it's worth it.