Comic Review: Old City Blues 2

    Giannis Milonogiannis takes us back to New Athens, 2049. More cases of cyber-crime hit the city, and the Special Police have to figure it out and take it down. The second volume of this old-school style cyberpunk comic series is more of the same. But that same is some very enjoyable stuff.

    The writing is quick and confident. The art leans far more into the realm of manga/anime than I like, but not so far that I couldn’t make my way through. A lot of Cyberpunk anime draws pretty blatantly from William Gibson specifically among genre titans, and this does the same. I was frequently reminded of Count Zero and some stories from Burning Chrome.  Evil megacorporation; scientist pushing things too far, cyber-psychosis, the slums, cyborgs, and some explosions. But it’s all handled well, and worth reading for genre fans.

-Matthew J. Constantine

Book Review: Old City Blues

    I’m a longtime Cyberpunk nerd.  William Gibson, Blade Runner, the works.  Giannis Milonogiannis dives into the classic tropes of the genre, filtering it through the Cyberpunk anime of the 80s and 90s, without picking up too many of the latter’s bad habits.

    The story is pretty typical of this sort of thing.  Cops VS corporations, corruption and cyborgs, and of course, A.I. and transcendence. But it’s all a lot of fun to read, and with a good use of rough artwork to create a mood. And the setting, a post flood, reconstructed Athens, Greece is certainly different.

    The stories are efficiently told, without seeming too rushed.  It took me back to some of the things I enjoyed in Cyberpunk years ago. If you’re into it, too, check out Old City Blues.

-Matthew J. Constantine

Comic Review: Prophet: Empire

    The many threads of the many John Prophets are beginning to weave together into a tapestry of marvelous oddity.  In this, the third volume of this Dune-esque science fiction epic, we witness the liberation of Earth, the waking of weapons, and connections to the past.  Hero Johns and villain Johns, and everything in between.

    Prophet is a wonderfully off the wall tale, the likes of which you just don’t see every day.  It’s nowhere near as relatable or friendly as Star Wars or Firefly.  It’s nowhere near as tame as Interstellar or Avatar.  It does not help you, and does not care if you get it.  Prophet is.  Perhaps I’m ascribing too much to Brandon Graham and Co.’s work.  But whatever the case, I’m loving this obscure, out there, trippy, freaky story, writ large on the face of a chaotic universe.

    In previous reviews (volume 1, volume 2), I’ve mentioned the art.  It remains.  I’ve mentioned the ‘similarity’ to The Incal, Dune, Metabarons, and the like.  That is all still true.  It is a series that science fiction fans should be reading.  Seek this out.  It’s a punch in the brain, and it’s awesome.

Prophet: Empire
Authors: Brandon Graham, etc.
Artists: Simon Roy, etc.
Publisher: Image Comics
ISBN: 978-1-60706-858-7

-Matthew J. Constantine

Comic Review: Prophet: Brothers

    The continuing adventures of John(s) Prophet.  The universe continues to expand, and the truth behind John Prophet and his returning empire is revealed in small pieces.  What is going on?  What’s with all the Prophet clones?  I still don’t know, but by the end of this volume, I’m starting to get some ideas.

    As with the first volume, the art is often rather ugly, but it fits well with the bio-tech sci-fantasy universe being imagined.  The ultra-tech, bio-tech, and just plain weird-tech in Prophet is awesome.  A gold mine of strange creatures and devices (sometimes a bit of both).

    One of the things I love about this book is how the characters simply act, knowing all the rules of their world.  We see them do what they do, and must piece together how to feel about it, what it might mean, where things are headed.  And, as we see all these various incarnations/iterations of John Prophet putting pieces into place, we must try to construct the larger plot.  Old Man John is probably my favorite version, but several of the others are cool.  The sequence where he lets his mental shield down and takes in the movements of the universe is especially cool, and produces one of the best splash pages I've seen in a while.  I really can’t wait to see where this all ends up.  One of the best comics on the market today.

Prophet: Brothers
Author: Brandon Graham, etc.
Artist: Giannis Milonogiannis, etc.
Publisher: Image Comics
ISBN: 978-1-60706-749-8

-Matthew J. Constantine