Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Graphic Novel - Warren Ellis' 'No Hero' (Steak Knives)


A wise man once recommended Warren Ellis to me, noting that 'pretty much anything by (Ellis) is worth reading.'

'No Hero' is a good example of the low end of the spectrum of expectations this recommendation set. If it were any other author, you'd say 'Wow.' But this is Ellis, and it's only 'decent' Ellis. Still, this is at the far right of the bell curve...

Ryp's art is immersive and lively, and he captures the still moments of ultra-violence with a keen hand. While the story does the art justice, it just comes off feeling like a longer series hyper-distilled into a mid-size story arc (or does Ellis just have massive brain-dumps of inspiration like this?).

The premise in short - A Tim Leary-esque 60's scientist creates a psychedelic-based pill that turns the user into a superhuman. He controls this formulation rigidly to create a band of unstoppable 'heroes' to police the world. Hilarity ensues...

Really, this just whet the appetite further for Ellis' 'Planetary 4' - holding out for the soft cover collected (due Dec 7), for consistency with my copies of the first 3...


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