Rave Reviews from Broken Frontier
So because the great review from BrokenFrontier.com of my comics anthology, CYCLE'S END, has expired...I'm reposting it here. Yeah, I know, this post seems a little self-serving, but the guys at Cave Drawing Ink and I are quite proud of it.
You can get a copy at www.cavedrawingink.com
Cycle’s End
Review by Sam Moyerman, posted November 03, 2007
Cover: Walter Simonson
Words: Greg Tumbarello & Jeff Marvin
Pencils: Tony LaSeur, Jeffrey Zacholl, Ian Glaumbinger, et al.
Inks: Tony LaSeur, Jeffrey Zacholl, Ian Glaumbinger, et al.
Colors: N/A
Story Title: Of Myth and Legend, Pieces of Eight, The Story of Captain Tucker, Trials, The End is the Beginning
Publisher: Cave Drawing Ink
Price: $5.95
Release Date: September 21, 2007
Five stories. Each showing an end and a beginning. And each asking the question, are those two really any different?
The stories contained within the collection Cycle’s End all deal with the same general theme. The theme of bringing things full circle to their rightful ending place. Within the pages the reader will get a taste of a mythical hero traveling distant lands to save a girl; a pirate and his search for wealth and adventure; an old western bounty hunter; a man and a woman dealing with insanity; and finally a few space adventurers, searching for a final place to re-colonize and bring back their civilization. Each of the stories deals with fate, legend, and the cyclical nature of things in their own unique way.
The writers of this book, Greg Tumbarello and Jeff Marvin, have laid out a rather interesting task for themselves. And for the most part the results are very effective and always admirable. It’s always easy to pick a theme for a compilation book, but oftentimes very hard to stick with it. Well, these guys nail the theme. Each tale in this book deals with completely different characters and settings. Yet each one feels honest and rings true with the dialogue and motivation. The pacing moves swiftly through most of the book as each writer knows exactly where he wants to end up. There can sometimes be a tendency for each of them to overwrite in places, but the only time it really becomes noticeable is in Marvin’s Pieces of Eight story.
In terms of the artwork, much of the same is true. The art in some of the pieces is truly inspired. Jeffrey Zacholl truly nails the action and majesty of Of Myth and Legend. The characters truly come alive. Likewise Ian Glaubinger and Ori Ayalon, produce some of the cleanest and sharpest looking characters in Pieces of Eight that are enough to make you forgive the overwriting there. There is a slight hint of comedy in their work on that story that brings a smile to your face just looking at it. But the highlight of the book is Ayalon’s work on the final story, The End is the Beginning is the End. In this story of space adventurers searching for a new planet, Ayalon’s artwork perfectly compliments Tumbarello’s fantastic story for wonderful results. He somehow captures the openness and emptiness of space and combines it with the wonder and imagination that the same setting can provide. The only place the artwork falters is in the story Trials, where the more stylized artwork seems out of place with the cleaner line work in the rest of the book.
All in all, it must be said that Cycle’s End is an impressive start for Cave Drawing Ink. The price is worth it alone just for the last story, and along the way you get treated to some other good works as well. Pick this book up now so you can say you read these guys back when they were just starting out.
# # #
Cycle’s End can be purchased at www.cavedrawingink.com
You can get a copy at www.cavedrawingink.com
Cycle’s End
Review by Sam Moyerman, posted November 03, 2007
Cover: Walter Simonson
Words: Greg Tumbarello & Jeff Marvin
Pencils: Tony LaSeur, Jeffrey Zacholl, Ian Glaumbinger, et al.
Inks: Tony LaSeur, Jeffrey Zacholl, Ian Glaumbinger, et al.
Colors: N/A
Story Title: Of Myth and Legend, Pieces of Eight, The Story of Captain Tucker, Trials, The End is the Beginning
Publisher: Cave Drawing Ink
Price: $5.95
Release Date: September 21, 2007
Five stories. Each showing an end and a beginning. And each asking the question, are those two really any different?
The stories contained within the collection Cycle’s End all deal with the same general theme. The theme of bringing things full circle to their rightful ending place. Within the pages the reader will get a taste of a mythical hero traveling distant lands to save a girl; a pirate and his search for wealth and adventure; an old western bounty hunter; a man and a woman dealing with insanity; and finally a few space adventurers, searching for a final place to re-colonize and bring back their civilization. Each of the stories deals with fate, legend, and the cyclical nature of things in their own unique way.
The writers of this book, Greg Tumbarello and Jeff Marvin, have laid out a rather interesting task for themselves. And for the most part the results are very effective and always admirable. It’s always easy to pick a theme for a compilation book, but oftentimes very hard to stick with it. Well, these guys nail the theme. Each tale in this book deals with completely different characters and settings. Yet each one feels honest and rings true with the dialogue and motivation. The pacing moves swiftly through most of the book as each writer knows exactly where he wants to end up. There can sometimes be a tendency for each of them to overwrite in places, but the only time it really becomes noticeable is in Marvin’s Pieces of Eight story.
In terms of the artwork, much of the same is true. The art in some of the pieces is truly inspired. Jeffrey Zacholl truly nails the action and majesty of Of Myth and Legend. The characters truly come alive. Likewise Ian Glaubinger and Ori Ayalon, produce some of the cleanest and sharpest looking characters in Pieces of Eight that are enough to make you forgive the overwriting there. There is a slight hint of comedy in their work on that story that brings a smile to your face just looking at it. But the highlight of the book is Ayalon’s work on the final story, The End is the Beginning is the End. In this story of space adventurers searching for a new planet, Ayalon’s artwork perfectly compliments Tumbarello’s fantastic story for wonderful results. He somehow captures the openness and emptiness of space and combines it with the wonder and imagination that the same setting can provide. The only place the artwork falters is in the story Trials, where the more stylized artwork seems out of place with the cleaner line work in the rest of the book.
All in all, it must be said that Cycle’s End is an impressive start for Cave Drawing Ink. The price is worth it alone just for the last story, and along the way you get treated to some other good works as well. Pick this book up now so you can say you read these guys back when they were just starting out.
# # #
Cycle’s End can be purchased at www.cavedrawingink.com
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