Customer Reviews

City Of Dust

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Really not a bad graphic novel. Granted its nothing really original. Its basicly the " I Robot " story plot item for plot item lifted and given a little bit of a twist.

I've stated this before in other reviews, but Steve Niles is an exasperating writer to follow. The quality of his stories can be maddeningly inconsistent, even to the point of possible apathy towards future projects, but one thing that is quite apparent is that his creator owned work is decidedly his strongest efforts. While editorial interference may be a factor, it still comes down to the writing. With City of Dust we have a futuristic cop/horror tale that borrows heavily from 1984 and Blade Runner, focusing on a time when books, music, and even the expression of certain basic thoughts and ideals are banned, an admittedly unoriginal but still potentially intriguing concept. Gruesome murders take place which leads to the discovery of an innocent object, a children's book, but which ominously sets dire events into motion. In time these events trigger doubts within our resolute protagonist concerning the state's political philosophies, ones that he has willingly bought into from early childhood, plus possible recriminations concerning one particular dastardly deed committed because of those beliefs. The crime and mystery elements work fine, however Niles' trademark horror in this instance appears forced and not overly critical to the narrative. In a back of the book interview, he states his interest in eventually writing a straight up crime story. Despite its' futuristic setting, this particular trade would have been an ideal place to start.

I was introduced to Steve Niles by his series Simon Dark. A series which I enjoyed a lot, at least the first 12 issues (the last 6 weren't as good). I decided to read this book because I liked Simon Dark and because I like the publisher. Radical Comics is a new publishing house (well, almost 2 years old now) and they put a lot of effort in putting out quality books for affordable prices. I haven't liked one of their books (Freedom Formula), but I have liked the other two I've read (Shrapnel and City of Dust).

This comic is a futuristic tale. It follows a cop, Phillipe Krome, whose job is to burn books, it reminds me of Fahrenheit 451. However, in this book, we have some monsters attacking people. It becomes a sort of detective story mixed with horror in a future world. I think the story does a good job and it is helped by the astonishing visuals of Zid. However, I think the last chapter in the story was weak. I think there was more potential in this book.

A good but not great book.