I'm starting this thread to tell everybody here they should check this book out if they haven't. They recently released a collection of the whole series (24 issues plus a spin-off issue) for 30 bucks, which is an insane value compared to most other comics. It's even better considering most of the issues are longer than the average comic book.
About the book itself, it's one of the most wildly imaginative, insane, fun, and funny things I've ever seen. It starts out as just an over-the-top action comic, but pulls together a surprisingly resonant emotional storyline near the end. The closest comparison I can draw to another comic is Casanova, but even that isn't very close at all.
It's sort of slap-dash with the plotting at times, but that seems to be a result of the fact that the creative force behind the book, Rob Schrab, seemed to be having fun making it up as he went along. The benefit of this is, the sheer blissful creative assault of the book wouldn't have been possible any other way. It actually took somewhere around 10 years for Schrab to finally finish the series after having left it at a significant cliffhanger.
I'd actually read about a third of the series in trades years and years ago, and loved the hell out of it then. Re-reading it now that I can finally buy it myself and read the whole thing, I was blown away both by how well it held up and how much it had imprinted itself on me.
I know many people will be hesitant to take a recommendation from me, but you're the one who'll be missing out if you don't check it out. Don't sell yourself short by not listening to me about this.
One more thing I just remembered...in the original issues (and glaringly omitted from this collection) Schrab would list the suggested voice talent for each character and even a soundtrack for each issue! The soundtrack is far more awkward, but the voice talent worked like a charm. I remember some of them, like John Malkovich as Scud, George C. Scott as Voodoo Ben, and Gwenyth Paltrow as Sussudio. It sounds like a gimmick, but it worked really well because it gave you a grasp on what the creator intended with the characters' 'performances'. I"ll check for a listing online and post it if I find one.
About the book itself, it's one of the most wildly imaginative, insane, fun, and funny things I've ever seen. It starts out as just an over-the-top action comic, but pulls together a surprisingly resonant emotional storyline near the end. The closest comparison I can draw to another comic is Casanova, but even that isn't very close at all.
It's sort of slap-dash with the plotting at times, but that seems to be a result of the fact that the creative force behind the book, Rob Schrab, seemed to be having fun making it up as he went along. The benefit of this is, the sheer blissful creative assault of the book wouldn't have been possible any other way. It actually took somewhere around 10 years for Schrab to finally finish the series after having left it at a significant cliffhanger.
I'd actually read about a third of the series in trades years and years ago, and loved the hell out of it then. Re-reading it now that I can finally buy it myself and read the whole thing, I was blown away both by how well it held up and how much it had imprinted itself on me.
I know many people will be hesitant to take a recommendation from me, but you're the one who'll be missing out if you don't check it out. Don't sell yourself short by not listening to me about this.
One more thing I just remembered...in the original issues (and glaringly omitted from this collection) Schrab would list the suggested voice talent for each character and even a soundtrack for each issue! The soundtrack is far more awkward, but the voice talent worked like a charm. I remember some of them, like John Malkovich as Scud, George C. Scott as Voodoo Ben, and Gwenyth Paltrow as Sussudio. It sounds like a gimmick, but it worked really well because it gave you a grasp on what the creator intended with the characters' 'performances'. I"ll check for a listing online and post it if I find one.
