I haven't done a rant review in quite some time (well for me at least). I blame the fact that LOVEFiLM sent me a multiplayer game that I probably won't be finishing anytime soon and the fact that most of the stuff I download is anime or episodes from TV shows (which I have yet to finish).
So this rant review will be something new for me, since it will be on a comic book miniseries. So yes do enjoy but I'd also love some critique on this one much like the music one I did a while back. And maybe if you think I did this well enough there'll be more comic book reviews in the future.
The story itself pits this reimagined Ares fighting against the Japanese hell (yeah it presents the idea that each corner of the world has its own set of God's but it only presents the Japanese, Greek and Norse ones) to get his son back who has been possessed by Japanese God 'Mikaboshi' who seems like a camp version of 'Aku' from Samurai Jack.
It feels in many ways different to the kind of comics I'm used to reading. It does retain the destructive and bloody one on one battles with fighters who can dish and deal a superhuman amount of damage but this is wrapped in 'actual' mythos rather than comic book mythos and this in turn creates a unique look and feel that feels different from basically every comic I've ever read. It's awesome.
The comic features pretty much the whole pantheon of Greek God's but most come up as cameos (except Hercules but he's an actual Marvel hero). There are also some other God's from different pantheons and has mentions of God's like Thor who is apparently dead. I guess this comic runs in its own sub universe, then. Or maybe it doesn't, I don't actively follow Marvel because I prefer DC. Is Thor dead? Thor was always one of the few Marvel characters I truly loved (it's a shame he's so camp though).
And yeah at the end of the day it was pretty damn awesome. The art is incredible, even if (like most comics) most panels lack any real detail. About the only problem with this comic is the story. The story itself (aside from the mythos) is painfully basic and takes a back seat for most of the action (luckily the action is incredible) but the worst part is the pacing. From the boy being stolen for some loose reason to Mikaboshi getting involved for some reason (since when did Super villains need a reason to kill stuff and shit, though?) to the unexplained killer of the Norse God's to the five year time skip and Mikaboshi's 'death', the plot lurches and stops and starts with painfully bad transitions, it makes it seem like the writer just didn't care and wanted to get on with more action.
Yeah so the action. It mixes together battles that feel akin to a fantasy story but retains (as said before) the comic book feel. So you have your bloody and destructive punch ups, huge sword battles against undead samurai, Hercules getting eaten by a giant monster centipede, Zeus firing lightning from the sky and killing hundreds are just some of the great action moments in this comic that combine comic book super violence and fantasy wars.
Yeah, so the art. It's just awesome, when a panel actually has detail, it's incredible. The character designs are truly awesome, Mikaboshi's forms and the God's powers all look awesome. Just everything about the look of this is badass. And yet at the same time, retains a surreal and dreamlike beauty.
So should you read it? If for nothing else, read it for the battles. Comics have less of a chance of being animated (and an even lesser chance of being animated well) than manga. So if you were thinking of waiting for the battles to be animated you'll miss out. But don't bother reading this in hope for an epic retelling of the Greek Mythos (try the Percy Jackson book series for that).
Think about it!
-Locke.
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