Polite Dissent

You can find Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Ruse
Ruse followed the adventures of a Sherlock Holmes-like character, Simon Archard, and his female Watson, Emma. It was set during a Victorian Age in an Earth very similar to ours. It was heavily promoted by CrossGen as it was the first title written by Mark Waid since they lured him from Marvel and DC. Ironically, it was also the last CrossGen title he wrote before returning to Marvel and DC. The series had great potential — especially due to the perfectly fitting artof Guice — but that potential was never realized. This was for several reasons. First, we learn that superpowers exist on this world, and that Emma possesses some, but wants to hide that fact from Archard. This simple idea — and deus ex machina — ruins much of the atmosphere so carefully created as it doesn’t match the setting, except as a tie into the “shared sigil universe.” Second, the comic is rife with pseudo-science. If there’s going to be magic, fine, call it magic and be done with it. Don’t try and explain it away in pseudo-scientific terms that evan a grade schooler can tell are utter nonsense. i.e. “Their minds were controlled by metal filings in their snuff which, when inhaled, were aligned in such a way…” More technobabble than Star Trek. Third, unlike the other CrossGen books, Ruse had no real guiding theme. Sure, a mystic diamond would occasionally pop up and Archard would hunt it, but it was more like a series of random adventures. As I said, potential, but that’s about it.

Sojourn
One of CrossGen’s coups was to lure Greg Land, penciler extroadinaire, from DC. Land made his name illustrating Nightwing and Birds of Prey. In Sojourn, he was illustrating the tale of Arawn, whose husband and daughter were killed by Trolls led by the undead Mordath. With the help of part-time thief Gareth, she begins scouring the land for a mystic bow and fragments of a magic arrow. The art is truly beautiful, but the story very superficial. Plus, Land’s preferred art style lends itself to fewer panels, so 22 pages tells even less of a story than normal. As Arwyn travels the world looking for the arrow fragments, she finds herself in peril for 5 issues (oh, no, flying Nubians! And Mummies!) then recovers a fragment. Then 5 more issues of peril, and another fragment, ad nauseum. The relationship with Gareth is bizarre as well, as readers we aren’t sure whether or not to root for romance. Sure, it’s set up that way, but wouldn’t that just be cheating on her dead husband, who she’s in the process of trying to avenge anyway? And Gareth looks too much like Brenda Starr’s husband. All in all, Sojourn’s like the sterotypical beauty queen (or homecoming king)…pretty to look at, but no depth.

Brath
Brath takes places in a world just like Ancient Rome and Ancient Britain, but called something entirely different. It’s like the writer are trying to hard to pretend it’s not Earth, when clearly it’s identical. Just call Rome Rome, OK? The comic tells the story of Brath, a barbarian cheiftan, and his battles against the almost-Roman Empire. He has been blessed with a sigil (surprise!), so he’s supremely powerful. Ultimately, he’s betrayed by other chieftans and ends of in (almost-)Rome’s gladitorial arena. The book is good and has potential, but is due to be cancelled before it ever realizesthat potential. Dixon’s writing is good, if the characters are a little 2-dimensional, and DiVito’s art is solid.

Route 666
Route 666 tells the story of Cassie, who cannot only see dead people, but also see vampires, werewolves, etc. masquerading as people. Naturally, everyone thinks she’s insane, and she’s placed in an asylum. She escapes and is hunted as an escaped dangerous lunatic. Ultimately, a rural sheriff learns to believe her and travels with her (some others learn to believe her too, but they get eaten). The art is beautiful. The trouble is that the overall story is going nowhere. In 21 issues of the comic, we know little more than when the story started (except now it been shown that Cassie has one of those damn sigils.) It’s like a prize tortise…very pretty, but very slow.

Tomorrow, we finish up by touching on some CrossGen mini-series, and some new series, like El Cazador.