I originally wrote this back in January of 2008. A bit of a history for this, I like the series Rogue Angel, if you hadn't noticed by the two previous reviews of volumes in the series. A while ago I kept a LiveJournal and had been writing some reviews on there for a while, and the publisher of Rogue Angel, Gold Eagle/IDW Publishing, emailed me and asked if I would write a review of the new graphic novel version of the series. I was giddy as a fool and readily accepted. They sent me an ARC PDF file of the graphic novel and I read through it, and wrote the review. However, I'm not sure I did the review right, because they never contacted me again for any other reviews. So... whatevs. Read my review of the Rogue Angel series (as of 2008), and I hope it may inspire you to pick up a new series to read!
Originally written January 19, 2008
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| Book 1 in series |
The series Rogue Angel, by Alex Archer, introduces us to Annja Creed, an archaeologist with a somewhat troubled past and a take-one-day-at-a-time attitude about today/tomorrow. Annja was raised in an orphanage down in New Orleans, then moved up to New York once she finished her schooling and training in archeology. She works as a part-time contributor to the TV show Chasing History's Monsters on the Knowledge Channel (the fictional counterpart to the Discovery Channel). On a research dig in France, she discovers a lost piece to a magical sword that is rumored to be the mythical sword of Joan of Arc. Roux, a man claiming to be Joan's mentor, helps Annja to bring the lost piece to the rest of the sword he had collected over the last 500 years, and she somehow forges the sword anew, and can summon the sword with a thought to her hand. When she doesn't need the sword, it goes off to the "otherwhere", a dimension in limbo between our world and the mythical/magical realm. With the sometimes help of Roux and his protegee Garin (who also has lived 500 years), Annja uses her physical and mental gifts, as well as the aide of Joan's sword, she travels the world searching for lost historical artifacts. Along the way, bad guys pop up to try to steal those artifacts (many rumored to be of magical power); and Annja must use the sword and her wits to thwart their evil plans and save the innocents often caught in the middle.
Think of Annja as a female Indiana Jones (who was mentioned in comparison to Annja in Rogue Angel #7), and not so much like Lara Croft, aka Tomb Raider. I view Lara Croft as more of a freelance treasure hunter than a truly, professionally trained archaeologist like Indy. I like how the character of Annja focuses on the historical significance of an artifact than the rumored "mystical powers" or "curses" that could be surrounding the item in question. True, the draw of a cursed tomb or hidden city lost to the annals of time is the initial pull for Annja to join the expedition, and we the reader have an idea that the item she's looking for may actually be cursed, or some lost ancient tool of unlimited power. Although in God of Thunder, I think the artifact they were searching for wasn't actually the Norse god Thor's hammer, but just a nice replica called Thor's hammer to scare the locals. But it was still a good story, even if there were no Norse gods coming down from the heavens to claim their lost hammer. However, I could use a little more supernatural and creepy mystical/mythical happenings in the stories. True, the main character can summon a magical sword that was owned by Joan of Arc, and she has two compainons who have lived over 500 years, that can be counted as supernatural enough to warrant the Sci-Fi listing in the bookstore shelves. But... I could use a little more demons, a few more monsters, and maybe Thor could have made more of an appearance in the last book I read. Oh well. Can't have it all. Like Annja's roll on the TV series as the "resident skeptic", not all the monster stories and legends of sunken cities and lost cosmic powers are true.
The part of the series that I enjoy is the ever changing and developing relationship triangle between Annja, Roux, and Garin. Roux and Garin both have their own reasons for keeping in contact with Annja and wanting the sword she now has. Roux, the older of the two men, is a somewhat mentor to Annja now, helping her train to use to the sword, as well as using his immense wealth and 500 years' worth of knowledge to aide her at times with her search for artifacts. He can be, more often than not, aloof and passive-aggressive with his assistance of Annja, but that only adds hilarious one-liners and snarky banter between the two. I laugh out loud every time they go at it. Garin, on the other hand, is a little harder to figure out. He respects Annja and her abilities, and I think he has an odd attraction to her, but at other times, he would also be more than willing to kill her to get his needs and interests taken care of first. He wants the sword, because he believes it holds the secret to their longevity, and now that it's whole, he'll start to age or won't be "near immortal" anymore. Also, in a few of the books, he has helped her escape the bad guys, because he was the "lesser of the two evils" at the time. The interaction between two three really drives the series, and makes me want to read more to figure out what's going to happen next.
Now the series has crossed over the comic book medium, of which I am very excited. I am a long-time fan of comics and when I found out that Rogue Angel was going to be made into a comic, I wanted to see how the transition would be made, if the character and story would merge well to the graphic form, and if the art would be worthy of the series. Upon reviewing the first issue of the Rogue Angel: Teller of Tall Tales series, I was impressed with how the atmosphere and the feel of the character was able to transition over to the comics. Annja is still focused on the historical value of the item in question, which in this storyline is a first draft of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn that appears to have been penned by both Twain and an educated black man. This revelation could shake the literary world, as well as have more negative social ramifications if it came to light. So Annja and her friend Ramshi are investigating a dig that may shed light on to the whereabouts of this first draft. And as would be expected, some unknown group is there with thugs n' guns to stop the work. Annja fights off the thugs with her martial arts knowledge, as well as the mystical sword, and saves the day for the moment, to be continued in the next issue!
I really have nothing to say about the story or the plot, for it sounds very interesting to see if Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens) didn't have some help writing his book(s). The comparisons between Huck Finn and Ramshi's Indian culture was also interesting to see played out, giving the reader an idea that Twain's triumphant "Slice of Americana" isn't just for Americans anymore. I'm very interested to see how this storyline plays out, and can't wait for future issues.
However, most of my critiques come from a visual stand point. As a lover of comics, and as a very visual person, art and drawing is very important to me. I wasn't sure how the art was going to look for this new comic, and the artist listed on the cover pages is someone I've never come across in my ventures into the comic world. At first glance over the comic, the panels are bright, well constructed and the flow of action, background, and main character movement is well paced. My favorite page is one in the middle of the fight between Annja and the thugs. She calls to her the sword, and the visual depiction of the sword materializing out of thin air was done very well. I wish I could cut-n-paste that panel and use it as a desktop background.
However, once further attention is paid to the individual panels, the art isn't always consistent. In one panel Annja's face appears one way, then a few panels down, her face is scrunched, mouth moved to a weird spot on her face; or her chin is very prominent, and her face overall looks too long. I sadly am unable at the moment to cut-n-paste certain panel pictures from the Adobe file the comic is presented in to show specific examples of these indescrepencies. Some pages and panels appear to have been a labor of love, with a lot of time and focus spent on them; while others look almost drawn out quickly, without the patience and attention to detail as others. I might chalk this up to this being the first issue of the comic, so maybe the artist is still working out the style and flow of the comic and the character model.
I hate to say such negative things about this comic, given it is the first in a new series. But those few smudges tended to stick with me every time I looked over the comic, and I couldn't over look them. Hopefully the artist and character design will mesh more in future issues, and the art will be more polished as time goes on. Overall, I'm impressed and pleased with this new cross-over venture by Rogue Angel and all those involved with the book and comic. As much as I love the book series, I will most likely invest more money into the franchise with the emerging comic line. The characters of Annja, Roux, and Garin (both I'm very interested to see in graphic form!) will undoubtedly have a little more room to grow and explore in the graphic format, adding to the original story lines and backgrounds started by Alex Archer in the book series.
For further information on the comics and books, check out these links!
Think of Annja as a female Indiana Jones (who was mentioned in comparison to Annja in Rogue Angel #7), and not so much like Lara Croft, aka Tomb Raider. I view Lara Croft as more of a freelance treasure hunter than a truly, professionally trained archaeologist like Indy. I like how the character of Annja focuses on the historical significance of an artifact than the rumored "mystical powers" or "curses" that could be surrounding the item in question. True, the draw of a cursed tomb or hidden city lost to the annals of time is the initial pull for Annja to join the expedition, and we the reader have an idea that the item she's looking for may actually be cursed, or some lost ancient tool of unlimited power. Although in God of Thunder, I think the artifact they were searching for wasn't actually the Norse god Thor's hammer, but just a nice replica called Thor's hammer to scare the locals. But it was still a good story, even if there were no Norse gods coming down from the heavens to claim their lost hammer. However, I could use a little more supernatural and creepy mystical/mythical happenings in the stories. True, the main character can summon a magical sword that was owned by Joan of Arc, and she has two compainons who have lived over 500 years, that can be counted as supernatural enough to warrant the Sci-Fi listing in the bookstore shelves. But... I could use a little more demons, a few more monsters, and maybe Thor could have made more of an appearance in the last book I read. Oh well. Can't have it all. Like Annja's roll on the TV series as the "resident skeptic", not all the monster stories and legends of sunken cities and lost cosmic powers are true.
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| Book 9 |
Now the series has crossed over the comic book medium, of which I am very excited. I am a long-time fan of comics and when I found out that Rogue Angel was going to be made into a comic, I wanted to see how the transition would be made, if the character and story would merge well to the graphic form, and if the art would be worthy of the series. Upon reviewing the first issue of the Rogue Angel: Teller of Tall Tales series, I was impressed with how the atmosphere and the feel of the character was able to transition over to the comics. Annja is still focused on the historical value of the item in question, which in this storyline is a first draft of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn that appears to have been penned by both Twain and an educated black man. This revelation could shake the literary world, as well as have more negative social ramifications if it came to light. So Annja and her friend Ramshi are investigating a dig that may shed light on to the whereabouts of this first draft. And as would be expected, some unknown group is there with thugs n' guns to stop the work. Annja fights off the thugs with her martial arts knowledge, as well as the mystical sword, and saves the day for the moment, to be continued in the next issue!
 |
| Graphic Novel |
However, most of my critiques come from a visual stand point. As a lover of comics, and as a very visual person, art and drawing is very important to me. I wasn't sure how the art was going to look for this new comic, and the artist listed on the cover pages is someone I've never come across in my ventures into the comic world. At first glance over the comic, the panels are bright, well constructed and the flow of action, background, and main character movement is well paced. My favorite page is one in the middle of the fight between Annja and the thugs. She calls to her the sword, and the visual depiction of the sword materializing out of thin air was done very well. I wish I could cut-n-paste that panel and use it as a desktop background.
However, once further attention is paid to the individual panels, the art isn't always consistent. In one panel Annja's face appears one way, then a few panels down, her face is scrunched, mouth moved to a weird spot on her face; or her chin is very prominent, and her face overall looks too long. I sadly am unable at the moment to cut-n-paste certain panel pictures from the Adobe file the comic is presented in to show specific examples of these indescrepencies. Some pages and panels appear to have been a labor of love, with a lot of time and focus spent on them; while others look almost drawn out quickly, without the patience and attention to detail as others. I might chalk this up to this being the first issue of the comic, so maybe the artist is still working out the style and flow of the comic and the character model.
I hate to say such negative things about this comic, given it is the first in a new series. But those few smudges tended to stick with me every time I looked over the comic, and I couldn't over look them. Hopefully the artist and character design will mesh more in future issues, and the art will be more polished as time goes on. Overall, I'm impressed and pleased with this new cross-over venture by Rogue Angel and all those involved with the book and comic. As much as I love the book series, I will most likely invest more money into the franchise with the emerging comic line. The characters of Annja, Roux, and Garin (both I'm very interested to see in graphic form!) will undoubtedly have a little more room to grow and explore in the graphic format, adding to the original story lines and backgrounds started by Alex Archer in the book series.
For further information on the comics and books, check out these links!
So that's my review of Rogue Angel, comic and book version. I'm amazed I've come to love this series, having gotten into it by accident. I picked up the first book, Destiny, as a strip in the back of Barnes & Noble, and had a few of the others in strip forms as well (I think I had the first 3, #6, and #8 in strip form). And being bored one night, I just decided to pick up the first one and read it. And thus... it began. My new healthy obsession with reading a good series that is well thought out, the characters are rich and have depth to them (sometimes I wish they would just be predictable and do what I want them to do! Argh!)
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