Reviewer: Daron Kappauff
Story Title: Storm of Souls
Quick Rating: Excellent as always
Creator-Writer-Artist: Christian Gossett
Writer: Bradley Kayl
Digital Painter-2D/3D Integration Designer: Snakebite
3D Artist: Paul Schrier
Co-Producers: Jo Olsen & Ned Downes
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
Publisher: CGE (CrossGen Entertainment)
Now here’s a series that’s never let me down. (Unless you want to talk about publication schedules.) That’s right I can’t find a single negative thing to say about this series, in any of it’s incarnations, save for the fact that I would love for it to be more on time, and therefore I could get more issues each year. With that being said however, if this team continues to put out such amazing stories, both art and story, I have to say I’d rather have it continually be late than have any lax in quality.
For anyone who hasn’t been reading this series from the beginning, this probably isn’t the best place to jump on. Yeah I know it’s a number one, but as it states in the title it’s #1 of Vol.2, and unfortunately the story picks up right where the last issue of the last volume left off. And that just happens to be in the middle of some intense action. The intro on the first page does a decent job of catching up the reader no what came before, plus the Red Angel’s opening monologue helps too, but you don’t get a really good feeling for the characters. There is a small column that runs across the bottom of the first two pages with all the character bios, but it can only tell a new reader so much.
What can I say about the art in this series? Well, to be honest, it’s unlike anything being done anywhere else in the industry. Strike that, it was the innovator to what is now beginning to pop up in the industry. If you checked out last week’s Chimera #1, the art is very similar. In fact when I read Chimera last week I said, “Cool, this looks like the art on Red Star.†It’s a wonderful combination of hand drawn characters set against 3D backgrounds and special effects. The art in this series really is groundbreaking, and though Chimera’s wasn’t bad, it still doesn’t compare to the amazing visuals you’ll find on every page of this title.
Another thing that I really like about the art is the use of space; there isn’t a bit of wasted space to be found on a single page of this issue, or even in the entire series. Right from the start of each issue, that means the inside front cover, to the very last page, and including the news and credits pages, every inch of every issue of this title is chalked full of art. There are no panel boxes at all. Each new section is seamlessly interwoven into the last and is almost cinematic in its feel.
As much as I can rave about the art, I don’t want anyone to think that the story is in anyway lacking. If anyone would have told me about this series before it came out, the fact that it is a fictional tale based on a revisionist view of Russian history/futurism, I probably would have laughed and walked away. But here it is, and it’s one of the titles I look forward to most each month.
I can’t recommend this series enough, I would however recommend that you go out and pick up the first 2 trades though if you haven’t already read them. This is a great series, and you are really missing out if you’re not reading it.
