The Berserkers charge like demons from the depths of hell. Plunging from the cliff, or falling prey to the Dragon Men? Ghost makes his choice.

I seldom read and rarely enjoy graphic novel adaptations of movies, but Pathfinder is a visual feast from artist Christopher Shy and writer Laeta Kalogridis that is far superior to the film itself.

When director Marcus Nispel contacted artist Christopher Shy and expressed his interest in a film depicting a war between Vikings and Native Americans, Shy began to produce seemingly endless pages of concept art. So much concept art in fact, that they used all of it to produce the graphic novel adaptation.

The tale itself, with the exception of the overall concept of a war between Vikings and Native Americans, is unfortunately quite plain. A shipwrecked Viking longboat is attacked by the local tribe who slaughter everyone, except for the young son of their leader. The boy is raised by the tribe and eventually emerges as an unlikely hero when the Vikings return.

The graphic novel itself features Christopher Shy’s beautifully painted art in every single panel, and with an average of seven words per page, one could say that the story lets the art stand on its own. As the story is told from the tribe’s point of view, Shy made a great effort to realistically portray the Native Americans while also portraying the Vikings as almost faceless eight foot tall monsters wielding swords and axes the size of an average person.

The characters are detailed and imaginative, the scenery is vast, and the color palate and shading perfectly accent the mood in each panel. With each page being worthy of framing, this is a graphic novel that you must have in your collection.

Copyright © 2010 Splash Panel | Permalink | One comment | Share

Like weary boxers who have gone the distance, the combatants collide in one last, explosive effort. In the years to come a few witnesses will tell of the power of these final punches, that they could literally feel the shockwaves. Others will remember the enormous crater that resulted from the sheer force of the blows. But most will remember this sad day as the day the proudest, most noble man they ever knew finally fell.

The Death and Return of Superman, the omnibus edition, is a colossal masterpiece from the collective minds of Dan Jurgens, Karl Kesel, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, Roger Stern, and Gerard Jones. In 746 detailed pages, it deals directly with what it would take to kill a hero, what the world would be like without that hero, and what it would take to bring a hero back to life.

There has been a sharp increase in death and return stories throughout the comic industry, but this is one of the first and by far the best. There are some key rules to a good death and return story that have been ignored lately. First, your hero must either fall to his physical equal (Superman vs. Doomsday), a villain specifically designed to destroy him (Spider-Man vs. Morlun), or be taken by surprise in a standard assassination (Captain America vs. a sniper). Second, you must show that the loss of the hero was significant to the world he left behind. Third, bringing the hero back from the dead must be struggle. Death is permanent. Even if death can be escaped in the world of comics, it should not be easy.

The tale begins with Doomsday, a seemingly unstoppable killing machine, plowing his way through various cities. He defeats various heroes until his rampage is halted in Metropolis by Superman. After a long and destructive battle, the two each land one final blow. Doomsday dies instantly, and Superman gives in to his injuries after receiving assurance of Doomsday’s defeat.

The world mourns the loss, various gangs and villains make grabs for power, the existing heroes struggle to keep order, and four new individuals rise to claim the mantle of Superman. The Man of Steel, or Steel for short, is the first to appear. A construction worker who owes his life to Superman, Steel builds a suit of armor and sets out to establish order in the name of Superman. The Last Son of Krypton is the second to appear. Bearing a striking resemblance to Superman and claiming to have his memories as well, this Superman subscribes a far more lethal for of justice and is later revealed to be the Eradicator, a sentient Kryptonian weapon. The Metropolis Kid is the next to appear. Dubbed “Superboy” by the media, he is the result of an attempt to clone Superman, but escaped before he had reached maturity. The last to appear is The Man of Tomorrow. The most convincing of the four, this Cyborg Superman is proven to be a DNA match to Superman with Kryptonian technology to replace most of his damaged body.

After months of wining the world’s favor, the Cyborg Superman eventually proves to be the villain of the latter half of the story. He was Hank Henshaw, an astronaut who’s exposure to cosmic rays eventually resulted in the death of the entire crew and his consciousness forever being locked in a computer system. Over the years, he developed a paranoid ideal that Superman was responsible for the tragedy. Adapting and evolving, Henshaw eventually constructed a body from Kryptonian technology and DNA stolen from Superman himself. He seeks to turn the entire planet into a mechanized war world and begins with Coast City, leveling it and turning it into a massive engine. Though he blames the Eradicator for this destruction, the supermen and most of the former Superman’s allies direct their attention towards the Cyborg Superman.

Meanwhile, Superman’s resurrection has been playing out like a brilliantly crafted symphony behind the scenes. Initially, the Eradicator had stolen Superman’s body and placed it in a Kryptonian regeneration chamber for use as a conduit to the Sun’s energy. Later, after suffering a fatal heart attack, Jonathan Kent managed to rescue Superman’s soul from the afterlife. Now complete with a soul, Superman’s body lay in the regeneration chamber, waiting and recovering. Superman, powerless but armed with a few very big guns, joined the rest of the heroes in the final battle. After the Eradicator apparently sacrificed his life to save Krypton’s true last son, Superman’s powers returned, and he defeated the Cyborg Superman.

Though I managed to summarize this tale in only a few paragraphs, it truly is a massive undertaking. No other story has managed to capture the death and return of a hero as well as The Death and Return of Superman.

I am very glad that DC decided to carry forward most of the elements established in this story, rather than discard them as most similar stories have done. Steel carried his own series for four years and is now prone to regular appearances in various Superman titles. The Eradicator enjoyed a brief stint as a hero with the Outsiders and has since been flipping between the hero and villain roles, though it is unknown if each incarnation is the original Eradicator or another sentient Kryptonian weapon. Superboy, aka Kon-El aka Conner Kent, is now an official member of the Kent family and a major character in both the Teen Titans and various Superman titles. The Cyborg Superman, now simply the Cyborg, is one of DC’s most recognizable recurring villains. The destruction of Coast City eventually led to Green Lantern Hal Jordan’s mental breakdown and destructive rampage as the host of the entity Parallax. This particular story line and its effects lasted for years and was eventually resolved in Green Lantern: Rebirth.

The Death and Return of Superman is a massive tale, filling 746 pages. It was written across 1992 and 1993, though its effects are still felt today throughout the entire DC universe. This is how you do a death and return story. You don’t take shortcuts. You make the hero’s death believable, you spend time showing the impact of his loss, and you make his return as much of a struggle as his death.

The omnibus edition of The Death and Return of Superman is a must-have for any fan of the DC universe. The complexity and detail of the story will be an engaging read for days, if not weeks, depending on your reading habits. To date, The Death and Return of Superman remains the gold-standard for all death and return stories.

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Remember one thing. The man died. The spider was reborn. So the question is, are you you, or are you me? Are you the man who dreamed of being a spider? Or the spider who dreamed of being a man? Are you the one, or are you the other?

Spider-Man: The Other is not your typical comic book death and rebirth story. It’s an immense tale worthy of most high-caliber television series. Woven by writers Peter David, Reginald Hudlin, and J. Michael Straczynski, and illustrated by Mike Wieringo, Pat Lee, and Mike Deodato, Jr., The Other is not without its faults, but it is an in-depth experience not to be missed by any Spider-Man fan.

To be honest, it took three reads before I began to appreciate this graphic novel. Maybe it was the art, which (with the exception of Pat Lee’s pages) really doesn’t stand out. Maybe it was the length, which can seem quite long at first, but merely serves to draw you further into this intricate story. Maybe it was the villain, who seemed ridiculous at first, but was really as close as you could get to an “anti-Spider-Man”. Or, maybe it’s because I know that Marvel can do far worse than kill their star character.

The Other begins with Peter Parker experiencing random blackouts, dizzy spells, loss of his powers, and prophetic dreams. After a failed attempt to thwart a bank robbery results in Spider-Man being shot by the thief, Parker discovers that he is slowly dying due to a radiation-based infectious disease, possibly related to the spider bite which gave him his unique powers years ago.

The following requires a bit of back story. You may have thought that Parker gained his powers after being accidentally bitten by a radioactive spider, but you’re wrong. Author J. Michael Straczynski took it upon himself to give Spider-Man an origin of more mythic proportions. According to Straczynski’s origin, Parker always had a connection to a totemic spider spirit. The irradiated spider did not accidentally bite Parker, but chose to pass on its powers to him before dying. At that moment, Peter Parker became a living spider totem, a “bridge” between man and beast, able to exhibit the properties of both.

After traveling with his family for perhaps the last time, Parker comes face-to-face with Morlun. Morlun is an ancient being who feeds off of totems. He is essentially Spider-Man’s worst nightmare, someone to avoid at all costs. Morlun draws strength from any physical contact with a totem, which includes both punching and being punched. Parker and Morlun fight through the streets of New York, but no matter what Parker does, Morlun simply grows stronger. In the end, Parker collapses, but is saved by the police, forcing Morlun to leave (he apparently wants to feed in private, but this is never explained).

In the hospital, Parker’s face has been destroyed beyond recognition, and the doctors have no hope of saving his life. Morlun arrives to finish the job, but Parker awakes with spider-like eyes, sharp teeth, and stingers protruding from his wrists. With his last bit of strength, he kills Morlun and says farewell to his wife.

Days later, the apparently deceased Parker sheds his skin and cocoons himself to the underside of the Brooklyn Bridge. As he begins to dream, a voice scorns him for only being a man and failing to embrace the spider. Morlun had killed the man, but the spider awoke to kill Morlun. The voice offers to bring Parker back to life, but only if he accepts both the man and the spider equally. He accepts, is reborn in an outwardly human form, and returns to his family.

After further investigation, Tony Stark is surprised to learn that all of Parker’s wounds have healed, even the tonsils that he lost as a child have returned. Now embracing his spider side, Parker is granted new abilities. He has night vision, can feel vibrations through his webbing, can adhere objects to his back, and has “stingers” which can protude from his wrists.

Parker died and was reborn as a more accurate combination of both man and spider, though he does question the stingers, which spiders don’t have. Parker, still more man than spider, encounters “The Other”, a totem who is more spider than man. “The Other” warns Parker that other mythological forces feel that he should have died. It then retreats and is now cocooned within a church.

The Other is a very entertaining read, and certainly expands on Spider-Man’s mythological origins. Unfortunately, with the events of the later One More Day and Brand New Day, over twenty years of Parker’s life have been selectively removed from continuity due to a deal that he made with the devil (no, I’m not kidding). As a result, the validity of both The Other and Spider-Man’s mythological origins have not been addressed and are now in doubt. Regardless of its value to overall continuity, The Other is worth reading.

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Mary Jane. Aunt May. Uncle Ben. I couldn’t save any of you. Never had the power. Never could handle the responsibility. When I’m buried beside you, will you tell me . . . why you lied to me?

Spider-Man: Reign, from writer and artist Kaare Andrews, is a powerful and emotional journey through the tortured mind of Peter Parker as he enters the last years of his life and begins to confront everything that he has ever cared for and lost.

Thirty years from now, Manhattan has become an independent and politically corrupt city-state. In exchange for almost a decade of no crime, the people of Manhattan have relinquished their power of government, outlawed their heroes, and accepted the merciless justice of a militaristic police force, The Reign. In a final attempt to forever secure the safety of his city, Mayor Waters is just a few days away from activating The Webb, a protective barrier which will envelope the city, allowing nothing to enter or leave. Enraged by Mayor Waters’ plan, J. Jonah Jameson, an insane and washed-up newspaper editor from days long forgotten, returns from his self-imposed exile. He can no longer stand by and watch his once beloved people destroy themselves by cowering before The Reign, and he knows that the only way to save them is to awaken a long-forgotten hero hidden deep within a broken man named Peter Parker.

Written and illustrated by Kaare Andrews, Spider-Man: Reign was likened to Frank Miller’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns from the moment that it was first announced, but it is far more than Dark Knight Returns could ever hope to be.

While Dark Knight Returns is an action-packed gritty vision of Batman’s future, Reign is is a turbulent and emotional tale which defines the values of humanity and what it truly means to be a hero. Once you open the cover, you will find yourself drawn into a turbulent journey through the mind of an aged and emotionally scared Peter Parker as he attempts to justify his life as a hero and come to terms with everything and everyone that he has lost because of it.

Spider-Man: Reign is a powerful, moving, and thought-provoking tale about freedom, humanity, and the responsibilities of a hero. It is a must-have for any fan of the amazing Spider-Man.

Copyright © 2007 Splash Panel | Permalink | 2 comments | Share

We generally don’t review anything but graphic novels on the ‘Panel, however every once in a while a book comes along that I actually pick up and I generally can’t let it go, The Dark Tower that was released by Marvel a couple of weeks ago is one of those books. There are at least three really good reasons that I can think of as to why I should have avoided this book. I’ll start off by saying that I’ve never read a Stephen King book. In fact the closest I’ve ever come to the man’s work is watching ‘The Green Mile’, which in my book seriously doesn’t count unless the movie was as close to the book in the same way that ‘Sin City’ was, otherwise they’re two completely different things. Therefore I have no affinity to these characters as I would have, if say ‘His Dark Materials’ gets made into a comic book.

The other point is the underhanded way in which Marvel decided to promote this book. To all those thinking that Stephen King actually wrote this, think again. We’ve been buffered by not just Peter David doing the writing but another guy above him as well, before we get to the man himself at the top. King I guess acts as more of an advisor over a lunch as they hash things out. Don’t spend too much time on this, you’ve got more important things to do.

In addition to that I’m not a Peter David fan. Never have been and somehow I never think I will be. Not to get personal or anything but he’s one of the very few creators that I’ve allowed his personal politics take judgement for me over his work, which is why I tend to avoid it completely. Plenty of fish in the sea, plenty of other books to read and all that. He can continue to do his thing and I’ll do my thing.

So you’re probably wondering why I even bothered looking at this book. The honest truth is because after all the crap that Marvel pulled above, they did one thing incredibly well and that was choosing one of my favourite artists, pairing him with one of my favourite colourists, and fortunately, together they’ve made magic on a page.

I don’t tend to wax on about the artwork very often as those days where it was artwork first have faded away (and that’s kind of a good thing mind you) however Jae Lee and Richard Isanove have created one of the prettiest books on the market. I’ve been a fan of Jae Lee, since his Image days when I went out about bought Hellshock (the first series). It had this rawness that I kinda liked. I remember thinking to myself that he’d never really hit the mainstream as his work is far too much in the acquired taste category. I think Jae must have thought the same thing because after his second Hellshock series he came back with the completely sublime Inhumans with Paul Jenkins. His artwork had changed. It became more refined. There was a softer side to his lines and he seemed a lot more confident in his work (at least that how I saw it). The Dark Tower is a LEAP forward for Jae. Every one of his lines is there for a reason.

So what do you do to a guy that is currently firing on all cylinders? Easy, you team him up with one of the best colourist/painters in the industry. I’ve been watching Richard Isanove since his Top Cow days. Back when Top Cow was actually a big player in the industry, they had a crop of up and coming colouring talent that no one else in the industry could even come close to (except maybe Wildstorm). With names like JD Smith, Steve Firchow, Peter Steigerwald and of course Richard Isanove, they paved the way for some of the best looking books on the market. They stood out a mile. Thing is Top Cow recognised how great these guys where that they brought out a card set based on their painted work. Richard’s moved up in the world greatly. I put him up there with Laura Depuy (yeah I know she’s married now and changed her name but she’ll always be Depuy for me), Brian Haberlin amongst many others. He’s colouring directly off of Jae’s pencils and he’s using all manner of tricks to achieve these amazing colour tones and combinations.

So enough about the artwork which honestly is worth the price of admission alone, what’s up with the actual story and characters? Well the good news is that it’s actually not a bad story. Seriously. I put down the book and thought to myself that I have to go out and buy the Stephen King books. I mean if the comic adaptation is this interesting, imagine what the actual book it’s based on is like. I’ve got to say I’ve never heard of the Dark Towers series of books. Seems King has been writing these things since the early 80s, so we’re getting close to 30 years in the making.

For me the most interesting thing about the whole story is how King has combined the wild west with a completely different world with their own codes, languages and culture. The set up is simple Roland Deschain (love that surname) is traveling across the desert for the man in black, in search it would seem of the Dark Tower. Straight away we flip back to the past and we’re shown the route to how Deschain became a Gunslinger and received his first guns. Peter David’s dialogue gets a little getting used but I’m pretty sure that’s part of the whole Dark Tower mythos here so it’s just a question of how authentic it actually all is, I’ll only be able to comment once I’ve read the books, which will keep me going until the hardcover in like 6 or 7 months time. I will say however that the pace is good although there are elements of the story that I’m unsure about but I’m attributing this to the fact that it’s still only a first issue. They’re not so much plot holes but rather incomplete information. What is going on with Roland’s mother? What are the Gunslingers in general doing? What makes Roland Deschain an important Gunslinger to follow? Why isn’t his father there to protect his mother? And the list goes on. The problem is of course that maybe some of these questions have been answered (I found out the answer of the third question by reading the back of the first novel, he’s apparently the last one), however these questions and many more were not really answered in the comic book. Even the fact that he’s trying to find the Dark Tower by hunting the man in black isn’t all that clear (once again after I read the back of the first novel). This actually makes me wonder if the book is aimed at the complete newbie Dark Tower reader or someone that’ll get intrigued and go out and buy the novels and then gain that extra understanding of the book itself?

As a package this comic book is very well put together. We get a nice hardstock cover, some nice paper, a backup prose story (and a map). In addition next month’s cover is shown and a few sample pages as well. I’ve got to say I LOVE it when they show next month’s cover. It’s a small thing that just gets you excited about the next installment, especially when Jae+Richard have outdone themselves yet again.

Copyright © 2007 Splash Panel | Permalink | 3 comments | Share

I’ve got to say that this book took me over 6 months to get around to reading. This wasn’t because I was excited about reading it, this wasn’t because I had better things to read (as you’ll understand from the review) but it was mainly because the story content hits far too close to home for my liking. I’m Lebanese and therefore have see the effects of war on my country. I know what it’s like to walk through the streets of your capital and see pure destruction all around. Scorched black buildings, bullet holes the smell of burn and the uneasy nature of the whole experience.

What I thought I wouldn’t have to live through twice in my life I did, during the summer of 2006 as my country got levelled once again. That was around the time that DMZ came about, it’s about the fictional second American Civil war and is set in New York City.

DMZ stands for Demiliterized Zone. Unfortunately for me I didn’t need to go to Wikipedia to find this out as Lebanon used to have one. In layman’s terms it’s a buffer zone that keeps two people away from each other. This story is set in the DMZ of the second American Civil war. The story picks up thick in the middle of things with Matty Roth being taken away on his internship to the DMZ to cover a story. Things don’t go according to plan and Matt’s left stranded in the middle of the war zone. In the first issue he tries to get his employers to get him out and is disgusted by the nature of their rescue attempt which effectively sets the stage for him staying in the DMZ and being the only reporter living there.

The book is written by Brian Wood. I actually rate Brian as a creator, he’s got a certain earthiness that I really enjoy and I have stated before just how much I enjoyed Channel Zero, however I’ve got to say that DMZ is so far his greatest achievement to date and there are many reasons for this. For a start he’s actually got the room to play around with the knowledge that he’s got room to allow his ideas to grow. Let the characters breathe and let the story evolve. In most of his other works there does seem to be a little bit of restriction, this can be attributed to several things. One has always been the length of his stories. They seem to be cut short before he’s really had a chance to explore things a little more. Thankfully he’s better honed is craft to be enable him to do this particular story the justice it deserves.

The story starts to slowly explore the city as it is now. What’s changed, what has stayed the same. What are the new rules? I guess you’d definitely get a bigger kick out of this story if you actually knew New York City, or had the deep affection for the place that Brian has that you could appreciate what he was trying to produce. It’s a strange love story of a writer to a city to be honest. Rather than showing it in all it’s beauty Brian’s effectively destroyed it and showed how people tried to preserve it and tried to keep it relevant. Coming from a country where this fictional story is my reality it’s amazing how close he is in hitting those feelings one feels when his city lies in ruins around him, it’s a feeling I wouldn’t wish on anyone and yet millions of people know exactly how that feels.

The other significant part of the success of this series in my eyes has a great deal with the artist. Riccardo Burchielli’s is a new name to me, however I’m extremely impressed by his style. It oozes with a certain amount of confidence and it really compliments the style that is being driven here. The stories never waver in their detail and their emotion. While his stuff isn’t Akira in their detail, it’s just him (while Akira had like a whole army drawing that stuff) he does definitely pack a lot of stuff in the pages and it’s both raw and polished at the same time. He gives the story that edgy realism while keeping with the Brian Wood sensibilities as established by the writer’s covers (that has got to be a Vertigo first, where the writer actually is the cover artist).

If you’re still on the fence on this series, and I can understand why you might be considering the subject matter, go to the official Vertigo website and download the first issue, not a bad way to spend 10 or 15 minutes of your time I assure you.

Copyright © 2007 Splash Panel | Permalink | One comment | Share

Who are these people, Duke?

They’re Cobra’s prisoners, Optimus, their salves. We believe they’ve done this to millions more in Europe. We hope they have…

You hope this has happened? To millions of your people? But…

Optimus, if they aren’t slaves, they’re dead.

Autobots, ROLL OUT!

Transformers / G.I. Joe is not just another Transformers and G.I. Joe crossover, but rather a dark and war-torn recreation of the Transformers and G.I. Joe universes in tandem by writer John Ney Rieber and artist Jae Lee. In the twentieth century’s darkest year, a world at war will find itself caught in the middle of a titanic alien conflict that has lain dormant for the last four million years.

The year is 1939, and the world has fallen before the might of the Cobra Empire. Desperate to drive back the tyrants, the United States Government plays their last hand and forms the world’s first elite strike force, G.I. Joe. But Cobra Commander has made his own desperate play for the few remaining free territories. He has made a deal with the Devil, a devil forged of metal and disdain, a devil known throughout the universe as Megatron.

The future of the free world begins to look hopeless, until a chance encounter leads the Joes to wake the dormant Autobots and their noble leader, Optimus Prime.

The battle for the free world has begun. Brother will face brother, man will fight machine, and old foes will dual to the death as four of the universe’s most powerful forces collide on a tattered battlefield. One will be victorious, one will see their dreams die before their eyes, and one will pay the ultimate sacrifice.

Unlike previous Transformers and G.I. Joe crossovers, Transformers / G.I. Joe does not take place during each series’ canonical time period. Instead, Transformers / G.I. Joe takes place during the year 1939 on an Earth that has been ravaged by World War II, where the Cobra Empire, instead of Nazi Germany, is poised to conquer the world, and ties the activation of the Transformers on Earth with Cobra’s rise to power and the formation of G.I. Joe.

John Ney Rieber’s story is dark, grim, and emotional, with an overwhelming feeling of hopelessness for our heroes, a feeling unlike any previous G.I. Joe or Transformers tale.

Jae Lee’s artwork is astounding and captures the atmosphere of Rieber’s story with a melancholy war-time environment that is all too fitting.

Transformers / G.I. Joe is a fresh look at both franchises and a must-have for any fan of Transformers or G.I. Joe. A second volume was produced, but cancelled after issue #1 when the publisher’s financial troubles led it to declare bankruptcy in 2005. Fortunately, Rieber’s brilliantly crafted masterpiece is best as a stand-alone novel.

Copyright © 2006 Splash Panel | Permalink | 9 comments | Share

’300′ is the greatest story Frank Miller has ever been involved with. In fact I’ll go one step forward and say that ’300′ is the best work Frank Miller has ever produced and will likely ever produce (I’m a natural born optimist and I’d relish reading something that tops ’300′, however I’m also a realist and this is basically Frank’s Magnum Opus). That’s a bold statement considering who I’m talking about here. The man that reinvented Daredevil and made the character one of the best around, the man who reinvented Batman and made him relevant as a character; the man who gave us all of Sin City to delve into; but I don’t choose any of those as his best work (even though they are golden), I choose this little story about ’300′ Spartan soldiers. First published as an oversized hardcover 7 years ago, and began serialization 2 years prior to that.

’300′ is set in 480 BC, ancient Greece and chronicles what is considered by many historians as the single most important battle in the history of humanity. These ideas of democracy and philosophy were looking dangerous for the mighty Persian Empire. These ideas had to be crushed and Xeres the self proclaimed God-King went to demand of Athens and Sparta to yield. Neither did.

In the time of King Leonidas, even the King was not above the law. He still had to take permission to go to battle. He was not granted this. So he decides to go for a ‘walk’, with his personal bodyguards of ’300′ Spartans and sets off to stop the mighty Persian Empire from conquering all of Greece.

From the very beginning of this graphic novel you know it’s different to just about anything else you’ve ever read. The first 10 pages are just epic scenes of soldiers marching. It’s a massive canvas and Miller is going for atmosphere and the iconic. It’s clear that Miller has done his homework (I know he’s really done his homework as he’s actually been to Greece and visited the Hot Gates). The culture and the ideals of the Spartans is shown sometimes in several spreads and other times in a few lines of dialogue or tiny little panels. However it’s all incredibly memorable, powerful and quotable.

The dialogue in this graphic novel crackles off the page. Each sentence is weighed and just sounds fucking hard. Even though I original read this years ago I can remember panels as clearly as if I’d read them yesterday. It’s like Miller stripped all the unnecessary noise from his dialogue and just gave you enough.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the artwork. This is Frank Miller at his best, but also this is where his wife Lynn really outshines her husband. This story would not have worked as well, wouldn’t have looked anywhere near as good if anyone but Lynn had taken over the reigns for the colours. She uses a watercolour palette for this story that is a perfect compliment to the mood that Miller is trying to achieve. The image below is the cover to the second chapter and is easily one of my all time favourite images, mainly because the colours are so vibrant and so perfectly chosen.

One of the best graphic novels in any language has been made into (IMHO) probably the movie of 2007. I’ve watched that trailer time and time again, picking up panels and dialogue which are stripped directly from the book. It’s an incredible adaptation in the making, I’m glad that the creators have actually been so faithful to the material. Then again there’s a reason for that, the material is one of the best the graphic novel medium has to offer.

For more information and a preview go here.

Copyright © 2006 Splash Panel | Permalink | 17 comments | Share