Pax Romana

Title: Pax Romana

ISBN: 9781582408736
Price: $14.99
Publisher/Year: Image, 2013
Artist: Jonathan Hickman
Writer: Jonathan Hickman
Collects: Pax Romana #1-4

Rating: 3/5

Time travel has long been used as a vehicle for creating alternate history.  Mark Twain did this in his classic novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.  L. Sprague de Camp also did this in Least Darkness Fall, the novel that inspired Harry Turtledove to study Byzantine History.  I bring this up because it relates to the comic that we're going to be taking a look at today.  We're taking a look at Pax Romana by Jonathan Hickman.

Pax Romana starts off in with a framing story in the megacity of Constantinople.  The Gene Pope, the bioengineered leader of the Catholic Church comprise of the genetic material of 1026 holy men and women, is telling the young emperor of the Holy Roman Empire the story of how the empire came to be.  Ah, but this isn't the Holy Roman Empire you're probably thinking of.  It is a Roman Empire that never fell, and where church and state are attached at the hip.

 It all start in the year 2050 of an alternate timeline.  Most of Europe had gone secular, and Islam was on the rise due to mass immigration.  The Church was losing support by the day, and might be on its last legs before long.  In a last-ditch effort to fix this, the Church sent a paramilitary force of 5000 individuals back in time to the year 312 AD.  The goal was to set up a stronger foundation for the Church and prevent the mistakes of the past from ever happening.

The forces were led by Nicholas Chase, the Pope's own nephew.  Well, technically, Caridnal Beppi Pelle was meant to be the leader, but Chase killed him shortly after the team arrived in the past.  Chase and his team decided to implement their own plan, while trying to stay true to the spirit of the original.  They were tasked with creating a better future, but can utopia ever be created by mere mortals?

I think I'll start by talking about the art.  I can best describe it as stylized minimalism.  You don't really get any true backgrounds, just some splashes of color and maybe a couple bit of furniture.  The characters themselves tend to be drawn mostly white with a few splashes of color.  I have to admit, I was rather skeptical at first, but it kind of won me over in the end.  There were times I did wish to see some more detailed backgrounds, but the minimalist style actually kind of works for this comic.

Let's talk about themes.  The description of society in the 2050 is actually a red herring for the true theme of the comic.  Namely, can a perfect society be run by imperfect beings?  As the old saying goes, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.  We see this from the very first issue when Nick assassinates Cardinal Pelle.  Of course, it goes beyond that as Nick's fellow mercenaries begin to develop their own plans and ambitions.  Still, in the end they're still pretty successful.  The technologically advanced future of the framing device, completed with colonies on Mars, is reveled to be the year 1492.

Just as a side note, when I first read this comic, the 2050 scenes seemed laughably unlikely.  These days, however, they seem eerily prophetic.  The socio-political part, not the Vatican developing time travel part.  Side note, why does the pope order all evidence of the time travel plot destroyed?  History is going to be changed so, one assumes, all incriminating evidence will be wiped away.

I thought that the Romans were all well written.  Constantine is more than happy to receive help from the time travelers, but at the same time, he's no medieval moron.  He has his own plans and ambitions.  The Romans might be less technologically advanced than the future humans, but they're no less intelligent than them.  Although, when Constantine declares that the church will incorporate beliefs from many different religions, including heretical strands of Christianity, there is springily little push back.  He basically goes "I'm the Emperor and I say we do it this way, so there!" and beyond a token resistance, everyone is cool with this.  As far as Constantine himself creating such a syncretic religion, I can buy that.  He's often credited as the first Christian emperor of Rome, but he was a major devote of Apollo throughout his life, and his wasn't baptized until he was on his deathbed.

The Catholic Church in this alternate world is very catholic in the small-C sense of the word.  The Gene Pope's official titles include the Black Rabbi, the Last Caliph, the Panchen Lama, the Pratyekabuddha, the Eternal Priest of Amun-Ra, the White Shaman and, of course, the Bishop of Rome and the Vicar of Christ.  It's hinted that this is only a fraction of his full list of titles.

I will say it is a bit odd that Last Caliph is part of the list of title, since there's a good chance that Mohammad was never born in this alternate timeline.  There's brief mention that the positions of Gene Pope and Emperor of Rome have historically been one and the same.  This is likely a nod to how, starting with August, the Emperors of Rome also served as Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of the Ancient Roman religion.  This position is where the pope gets the title of pontifex from.

Okay, I've been putting it off for long enough.  This is, overall, not a bad comic.  That having been said, it's considerably overhyped, in my opinion.  If you look at a lot of the mainstream reviews, you'll see people gushing about how this is the next big thing, and how it's going to revolutionize the world of fiction.  These people obviously have not read much alternate history, or else they'd know that it's been done before.  Harry Turtledove's Guns of the South has a very similar premise to Pax Romana.  As do SM Stirling's Island in the Sea of Time series, Eric Flint's 1632 series, John Birmingham's Axis of Time series, and you could even go all the way back to the novel's I mentioned at beginning of this review.  That's not even getting into all of the online alternate historians who have tried their hands at such a scenario.

None of this makes Pax Romana a bad comic, but it does go to show that it's premise wasn't quite as groundbreaking as many professional reviewers would have you think.  The big problem I had was just how short the comic was.  We get some very tantalizing glimpses of the history of this alternate Roman Empire that are just begging for elaboration.  This really feels like one part of a much bigger story that never materialized, and overall it just feels incomplete.  As far as I can tell, Hickman never intended for there to be sequels, thus compounding the issue.

Granted, there is a timeline towards the end that chronicles some events in the history of this alternate universe, but it just isn’t the same as being able to see all of that in comic book form.  I know that Syfy has expressed interest in adapting Pax Romana.  If they do, I sure hope they expanded it into a full-series, rather than just a miniseries.  It worked wonders when Amazon did it with The Man in the High Castle.

Bitch Planet Vol 1: Extraordinary Machine

Title: Bitch Planet Vol 1: Extraordinary Machine

ISBN: 9780785185178
Price: $9.99
Publisher/Year: Image, 2015
Artist: Valentine De Landro
Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick
Collects: Bitch Planet #1-5

Rating: 4/5

Bitch Planet is a gem of a read, that is not only fascinating but important especially during the time we’re in now where women have become more vocal about their roles and rank than ever. This comic book pays homage to everything women face daily and the problems surrounding this. A lot of issues we see in this comic book relate back to the ideology of gender roles; how women are expected to behave, speak, dress, and conduct themselves for the opposite sex. In Bitch Planet, we get to witness women rebelling against the cultural norm.

Now, I will admit, I’ve only read a few graphic novels in my life, but never a comic book. I’d also like to point out the fact that if it weren’t for my professor who recommended I take a class about this comic book a few months ago, I probably would have never known of its existence. Lucky me!

The story of Bitch Planet is quite simple: it’s about non-compliant women who are sent off to another planet to serve their time. The planet is essentially a prison controlled by old men behind screens and a holographic woman that orders inmates around. However, it’s the way in which these inmates are categorized as non-compliant that makes this story so relevant to the mistreatment and criticisms women face today. In Bitch Planet, we notice one woman being seized for merely appearing upset in response to her husband’s infidelity, and we witness a mother being taken away from her 8-year-old daughter when she’s deemed to be dangerous for unprecedented reasons only to learn that her daughter, too, has been sent away to Bitch Planet for being “too violent” after lashing out when a customer calls her too fat and animal-like. Then, there are women who are punished and sent to Bitch Planet for having to kill men solely for their own protection.

Throughout the story,  every “non-compliant” woman’s background is unveiled. As readers we are able to see  exactly how these women ended up on Bitch Planet in the first place.  As we take a peek through their lives before imprisonment, we then realize that every single one of these women stepped outside their boundaries to rebel against what people (or I shall say the authorities) expect of them and instead, stood up for and embraced their own actions and emotions. This society is not afraid to put women in their place whenever they want to and they have no trouble doing so as authorities lack sympathy and reasoning. Extraditing these women who had natural reactions to their particular situations is a way for the government to validate their political power.

If we take the content we read in Bitch Planet and apply it to our reality, there really isn’t much of a difference, as it is a cultural norm for women to be viewed slightly different than men in a negative perspective. If we flip the situations from Bitch Planet and make men face these same issues, it wouldn’t be a problem at all because that’s just how our culture accepts it (and this really needs to change).

For example, let’s say a husband gets upset after finding out his wife cheated – people will feel sorry for him and negatively look down on his wife. If this actually happened, people would instead help the husband, perceiving him as “the good boyfriend”, and leave the wife in the dust.  If the roles were reversed where the husband cheated on the wife and the wife reacted badly, she would then be viewed as “the crazy girlfriend.”

Although Bitch Planet is an exaggerated and extreme version of what happens to non-compliant women, our life today is really not too far from that life. Therefore, we should consider Kelly Sue DeConnick’s story a warning about where our lives could potentially end up.

The Red Wing

Title: The Red Wing

ISBN: 9781607064794

Price: $14.99

Publisher/Year: Image, 2011

Artist: Nick Pitarra

Writer: Jonathan Hickman



Rating: 1.5/5



Jonathan Hickman confuses concept for plot and leaves the fantastic concept of The Red Wing floundering and incomplete.  Hickman apparently cannot decide if he is more interested in telling a story about the pilots who navigate both time and space in a war that crosses eons, or if he wants to tell a story about a war that stretches over eons and happens to involve some pilots.  Either way, he fails on both accounts and we are left with a “graphic novel” that is heavy on the graphics and light on the novel.



Dominic Dorne and Valen Redd are new recruits to fly the Red Wing Tac II, a fighter that is designed to destroy the enemy across time and space.  Both Dorne and Redd are legacies; their fathers flew in the original Red Wing squadron and were killed on a mission.  Now it is up to the “sons and daughters of the Red Wing” to continue the fight.



That is a great premise.  But, you will notice that there is a major gap in that description: Who is the enemy and what do they want?  Hickman decides to skip over that minor detail in order to provide the reader with a SHOCK twist at the end of the second issue.  Now, shock surprises work best when there is some explanation why the reader should be shocked.  Just giving the reader something to look at without any explanation doesn’t make fore very good storytelling. Let me give you an example that is similar to The Red Wing, but will not contain any spoilers:



It is Christmas time. Little Timmy and Tina see Santa in their living room.  He turns and sees them and then rips off the fake beard to show his kids that he is, in fact, their father, not Santa.  The kids, both firm believers in Santa, are horrified to find that their belief in the jolly old elf has been shattered.  To make matters worse, the father just stands there without giving any explanation why he would do such a thing.  Did he do it to be mean?  Did he do it because he did not want to lie to his kids?  Did he do it because he had a horrible itch on his chin and had to remove his beard right then?  No explanation.  He just stares at the crying kids, and recites The Night Before Christmas.



Now, that may be surreal as hell, but it is not a good story.  It is a good scene that needs to be explained or at least further expanded upon for it to make sense in a larger context.



Hickman does not do that with his reveal/twist.  Instead he rambles on for another two issues, all the while, another character (and the reader!!!!) begs the antagonist to explain himself.   But, Hickman assumes that this is all self-evident and chooses to jump to another scene which he leaves half-explained a few pages later.



The only thing The Red Wing has going for it is the lovely art.   Nick Pitarra and Rachelle Rosenberg give life to an otherwise stark and linear future.  Their art is reminiscent of Frank Quitely yet they managed to keep the lines clean and sharp when needed.  The color palette shifts from muted colors in the future, to lush colors in the past, making the crazy time-travel elements of the story easy to follow.



In addition, the characters are remarkably easy to identify, despite the fact that several of them have helmets covering half of their face for several pages at a time.  This is a pleasant change from other artists who Hickman has partnered with (including himself) where the art is often murky or difficult to follow.



I really wanted to like The Red Wing.  I was ready to herald Hickman’s triumphant return to creator-owned independent comics.  Instead I am left shaking my head at how such an exciting and rich concept coud be short-changed by a writer unwilling (or unable) to give it the kind of length and development that is needed to take it from concept to plot.

CHEW Vol 1: Taster’s Choice

Title: CHEW Vol 1: Taster’s Choice

ISBN: 9781607061595
Price: $9.99
Publisher/Year: Image, 2009
Artist: Rob Guillory
Writer: John Layman
Collects: CHEW #1-5

Rating: 3.5/5

Well let’s start by saying that this graphic novel is for mature audience. And it can be really gross and bloody at times. You have been warned.

With that out of the way let’s get into the review!

The story in itself was very interesting and intriguing – I couldn’t stop reading it at all. And I ended up finishing it in one sitting. The revelation at the end (which I am not going to go into, because spoilers) was shocking – I didn’t see it coming at all. It made me want to pick up the next volume right away!

I feel as if this first volume was more of a character introduction and preparation for the future story. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a bad thing at all. Things did happen, it just felt as if it was creating the world and presenting the characters. That is the only reason why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5.

Another fantastic thing were the powers – I find books (and graphic novels) with extraordinary powers to be very interesting. These especially, as they all concentrate around food, in one way or another, and I have never read something like that before. I can’t wait for more of them to be introduced, as I have heard that will happen in future volumes.

The art. I absolutely adored the art. It was dark and edgy. It gave the whole story an fantastic atmosphere. I don’t think this art is for everyone though, so I would check it out first before getting the graphic novel.

All in all I would highly recommend this graphic novel, if you don’t mind mature and gross themes that is. I am very much looking forward to picking up the next volume!

2 Past Midnight

Title: 2 Past Midnight

ISBN: 9781616554408
Price: $9.99
Publisher/Year: Dark Horse, 2014
Artist: Eduardo Francisco
Writer: Duane Swierczynski
Collects: 2 Past Midnight #1-5

Rating: 3/5

Two Past Midnight meet up in the first crossover of Dark Horse’s superhero comics. A book that’s too good and rare to pass up not reading. Who wouldn’t want to see Ghost, X, and Captain Midnight all together in the same series? All three still ongoing and have their own thrilling tales to connect to. It was nice to see that Duane Swierczynski covered writing this book. Does an excellent job with X and the premise of this story is right up his alley.

twopastmidp1What you like about this right away is the fact that neither of these heroes have met each other. Some of them aren’t even aware of the things others out there are able to do until they meet each other. It creates intense moments of confrontation between them and everything about it is natural when most of them aren’t too used to the concept of team-ups. In fact they’ve never had such a reason to team-up like this. That’s what made it fun to see the brawl which broke loose between them because of a misunderstanding. It’s always a misunderstanding, but you have to give credit to Duane Swierczynski that he doesn’t pull punches to let them actually go for the kill. They aren’t like the golden heroes you see on TV and that is captured throughout this book.

The plot is fairly straightforward as we know a madman is on the loose. His goal is to create shock, awe, panic, and hysteria.The mystery behind the villain is very necessary for keeping everyone on their toes about the possibilities of what could happen next. Seeing things from his perspective as well is very engaging. Having an idea of what makes him tick as he acts creates that dark atmosphere in which you like the sick things he does or you might find it a bit cringe-worthy.

When things really picked up, see how this investigative specter,  psychopathic vigilante, and time-traveling genius operated was interesting. The differences between them really stand out. Meaning that there is an awareness of who these characters are at their core to display how they would act to find this terror-focused sociopath. Those differences makes this intense enough that you are left questioning just how they could possibly get out of this unharmed. Their personalities clash and the trust between them is far from strong enough to hold up against a threat that attacks them mentally. With that said, there was some humor between them which was hard to ignore, especially when it was at the expense of X.

Eduardo Francisco’s style really fit this story. The detail and way he handled drawing everything made it feel gritty. The way it should as when most of Two Past Midnight book takes place in Arcadia, a neutral atmosphere is the last thing you should expect. The light of use of colors also added to this. Could be that a lot of this also took place at night, but it was a good use of it nonetheless.

Two Past Midnight is a great story that has a lot to offer as a first crossover of Dark Horse’s new superhero comics. We know we will see more stories like this to come and of a larger scope. So if it’s anything like Two Past Midnight, it’s definitely worth picking up. For 130 pages you aren’t left feeling like this isn’t worth the money or time. From beginning to end you are left at the edge of your seat with this dark tale.

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Vol 1: Terrorformer

Title: Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Vol 1: Terrorformer

ISBN: 9781782761778

Price: $19.99

Publisher/Year: Titan Comics, 2016

Artist: Dave Taylor

Writer: Robbie Morrison

Collects: Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #1-5



Rating: 3.5/5



Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Vol. 1: Terrorformer collects the first five issues and initial story arcs of the comic series starring actor Peter Capaldi. Alongside companion Clara Oswald—played in the show by actress Jenna Coleman—the Doctor first journeys to an ice world recently terraformed into a tropical paradise by a money-obsessed developer, and then pops in to twenty-fourth-century India to investigate the death of a friend.



Storywise, Morrison does as one would hope to expect with a Doctor Who comic: create adventures that would be far beyond the budgetary restraints of the live-action series. And he does that very well. The two-part “Terrorformer” gives us the aforementioned tropical paradise and introduces us to the Hyperion, a race of sentient suns that the Doctor’s race, the Time Lords, had to put down when they became a threat to all life. Walking, talking suns laying waste to planets? Yeah, that’s a little outside the BBC’s special-effects budget. The three-part “Swords of Kali” brings a new menace: the Scindia, a family of demonlike aliens that seeks to revive their goddess, Kali.



Morrison’s one stumbling block is in his depiction of the Twelfth Doctor, whose characterization in “Terrorformer” doesn’t seem to gel with his TV counterpart; based on the comic-book Doctor’s speech pattern alone, one would think this was originally written with Matt Smith’s energetic Eleventh Doctor in mind. I can only assume that, because this comic series had to go into production while Capaldi’s first season was in the works, and no one outside of the BBC had any clue as to Twelve’s personality, Morrison had to devise his own approach to the new leading man and hope for the best. Still, it’s a small distraction in comparison to the engaging storylines, and his Doctor becomes more Capaldi-like by the time “Swords of Kali” reaches its conclusion.



As for the art, Dave Taylor brings a clean, Moebius-like quality to the sci-fi elements of “Terrorformer,” and the appropriate scary shadows to “Kali,” considering its bad guys look like monsters. His depictions of the Doctor and Clara are a little off-model, but by the time we reach “The Swords of Kali,” you can tell he’s become more comfortable in reproducing Capaldi’s and Coleman’s features. Together, he and Morrison make for a strong creative team.

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Vol 1 - After Life

Title: Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Vol 1 - After Life

ISBN: 9781782761747

Price: $19.99

Publisher/Year: Titan Comics, 2015

Artist: Alice X Zhang, Boo Cook, Simon Fraser

Writer: Al Ewing, Rob Williams

Collects: Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #1-5



Rating: 3.5/5



Where Revolutions of Terror with the tenth Doctor followed two main story arcs, After Life follows four. There’s a main arc for the novel, as well as 3 smaller stories that have little nods and connections to the main storyline. The main companion is Alice, though two other companions pop in throughout the story (none from the television series). Alice is someone whose life is going down in a spiral. Deaths in the family, lay-offs, bills; there’s just a lot going on that she can’t handle. In steps the Doctor. She inadvertently helps him solve a case and he offers to let her join him on his travels.



The writers, Al Ewing and Rob Williams, have a lot going on here for the length of the novel. The pacing seems off, except in the final two sections where it slows down and you really get the chance to connect with the characters and the main conflict. Smith’s Doctor is captured really well, as he’s somewhat of the childish iteration of the Doctor; very exuberant and speedy, but thoughtful.



doctor-who-comic-11-page-2-The artists, Simon Fraser and Boo Cook, seem to struggle with how to capture Matt Smith’s face and mannerisms. Some of them are on point, but there are others where the art just looks awkward. They have a much easier time creating their own characters and aliens than dealing with ones that have already been established. Their artwork shines in the creation of the alien “ARC” towards the end of the novel.



The colorists, Gary Caldwell and Hi-Fi, do some great work here as well. With the plethora of different settings and adventures that this novel goes on, they have the opportunity to knock it out of the park on multiple occasions. Jungles, theme parks, high-tech facilities, etc; they all jump off the page with their color. Even the characters, and again, especially “ARC,” look fantastic. The shading particularly is exceptionally well done.



After Life suffers from some pacing issues, but is still a worthy outing for The Doctor. His companions each have their own quirks and strengths, and the novel really shines when all four of them are working together. The novel is a fitting one for the eleventh Doctor. There’s lots of optimism throughout and lots of child-like wonder and joy. As we learn from the Doctor himself, “Aliens are cool.”