Review: Hope
In the battle between good and evil, things are never really black and white as many people would like to believe. As there is no physical markers that one sees that would automatically tell you what intentions that person possesses. As an avid Star Trek fan, I always marveled at how the franchise, no matter which series you talked about dealt with social issues. The one episode from the original series, that has stuck with me to today, and really doesn’t feel dated at all, is “Let That Be Your Battlefield.”
The story revolved around a centuries old war between two alien races, where they simply hated each other because of the side of the face where they have certain colors. The magnitude of what Gene Roddenberry was telling with one particular story cannot be underscored, as it still rings true today, that race is a construct and racism itself is an idea which is thought not inherited. It is always interesting when fiction creeps these ideas in to the reader’s subconscious, and it is always interesting to get into fiction, where these things are more obvious. In Lovern Kindzierski and John Bolton’s Hope, the world of Shame is continued on with this installment, as Hope looks to be reincarnated into a human body.
We are brought to Shame’s castle, where most of her demons have been vanquished, as Merritt looks for anyone looking to do harm to Grace and Hope. As they leave the castle, they make their way down the rod to safer pastures, as though the demon hoard seems t be gone for good, one can never be sure. As we soon find out that Shame and her evil witch, Mother Virtue are hunting for Hope. By book’s end,a new enemy has emerged, as our heroes race to stop them before they can fulfill their promise.
Overall, the book is if HR Giger and Alejandro Jodorowsky worked in the medieval world in a battle between good and evil. The story by Kindzierski is exciting, action packed and unfolds likes well won action adventure. The art by Bolton feels visceral and can be in any museum. Altogether, a graphic novel which engulfs the reader into this magical world and gives fantasy fiction fans a grand tale.
Story: Lovern Kindzierski Art: John Bolton
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy
So, how about those elections!? While we recover from all of that… it’s new comic book day! What are folks excited for? What do you plan on getting? Sound off in the comments below!
The Shame hardcover collects all three parts of writer Lovern Kindzierski (Tarzan), artist John Bolton (Books of Magic), and letterer Todd Klein’s (Sandman) fantasy saga featuring archetypical characters such as Virtue, Shame, and Slur. It is a beautiful, dark, twisted fantasy story (Apologies to Mr. West.) and a true showcase of Bolton’s talents as a watercolor artist even if its gender politics are of an older age with plenty of gratuitous ass shots and creating kind of a virgin/whore dichotomy between Shame, who enjoys sex, and Virtue, who is innocent and “pure”. The three graphic novels tell a tale as old as time about the battle between light and darkness with a messed up family dynamic caught in between. Think Electra complex as Shame transforms her mother Virtue from a happy nun into the receptacle of her demon spawn child.
are reminiscent of the work of The Maxx‘s Sam Kieth as well as that artist’s early horror-tinged work on The Sandman. Kindzierski adds to the eeriness of these creatures by giving the Shadows rhyming dialogue recasting this fairy tale trope in a horror setting. Bolton makes them silhouettes, which contrasts greatly with the photorealism of his figures and the richness of his background setting whether it be the woods or a ruined castle. They twist and bend and are easily his most sequential work. Their and Slur’s pliable shape show that they are willing to do whatever it takes to rule the entire world through violent and manipulative means as their effect on Shame, Virtue, and the world around them can be felt stronger during each volume of the story.
