SuperSearnold - Comic Book Reviews

Greetings from your friendly neighborhood Searnold [Shár- Nŭhld]. Welcome to my comic book review blog - thanks for tuning in. Today is Friday, October 3rd, 2008.

Today’s Issue:
The Legendary Graphic Novel Preview. This is a free little ditty that I picked up at the Penny Arcade Expo. It was published by Spark Unlimited and based upon the upcoming video game by Gamecock Media Group. I can’t say for SURE if the preview has the same creative team as the upcoming graphic novel (though I must assume so) - but this preview was written by all-star writer Mark Waid (Kingdom Come, Fantastic Four) - based on the story by Eric Church and Stephen J. Skelton - with pencils by Martin Montiel. I almost didn’t read it (I only picked it up because it was free) - but I’m glad that I did.

Premise:
Long ago all sorts of scary creatures (most of the creatures of modern myths) walked the Earth and preyed upon mankind. Eventually - we were able to survive by locking these creatures inside Pandora’s Box. Today, master thief Charles Deckard has opened this box inadvertenly releasing all of these creatures. Thus ends the preview - but I’m sure further shenanigans will ensue.

Awesome Parts:
I love Mark Waid. This guy truly is a master of the art of writing comic books. Like I said - I almost didn’t read this. But then - as I was filing it away - I noticed the Waid credit on the cover. I was familiar with the premise of the video game so I figured “What the hey?” And Waid grabbed me from the get-go. He instantly captivated me with his descriptions of the mythical pasts of these creatures. His transition into the present day was seemless. The Legendary Graphic Novel Preview did exactly what a comic book should do - it sucked me into its world so well that I forgot I was reading a comic book. I can’t wait to read the rest of the graphic novel.

The Un-Awesome Parts:
Obviously I would have liked the story to be longer. I’d like to see what Charles does now that he’s released all of these creatures. But that’s why this was a preview - and a good preview at that. The thing was free so I sure can’t complain about that. The art was beautiful. I’d have to get extremely nit-picky and find some sort of spelling mistake to have a bad thing to say about this comic. Oh - alright - let’s get nit-picky. In the back, there are samples/ previews of the actual video game. And they’re up-side-down (so that whatever side you open the book from, it’s right-side-up.) I didn’t like that because I had to flip the book to read that part. There - a critique. Happy!?

My Recommendation:
Well I don’t know if you can even get your hands on this little preview ditty - but do so if you can. When the full novel comes out I’ll be sure to give it a review. Obviously - based on this preview I’d say absolutely pick it up

That’s it for today. As always - thanks for reading - see you next time.
-Searnold

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