Customer Reviews

Club Zero-G

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am not sure how writing a review for a graphic novel could ever do it justice? Your best bet is to buy this, read it once, then again to make sure you really just read/saw what you did...then, like me...write a glowing review and buy one as a Bar Mitzvah gift (as I just did...).

Rushkoff is no stranger to taking non-fiction themes and wrapping them into a fictional story. Ecstasy Club is one fine example; however, some writers are quick to learn that the graphic novel format is a completely different monster than the traditional fictional form. Fortunately, Rushkoff takes it slow and easy, keeping with what he knows rather than overextending his imagination to realms he's yet to explore.

Club Zero-G is a cyberian comic book. Anyone familiar with the themes of Rushkoff's non-fictional Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace will have no problem adjusting to the storyline of this 130+ page graphic novel. Rushkoff doesn't break far from the ideas of designer reality, "us" versus "them," and house rave euphoria, and in a sense, this comic could almost be seen as an Invisibles-lite (in fact, at one point, I could almost swear I was looking at a King Mob look-alike getting a Zero-G tattoo), but in many respects this reduction is very much a good thing. Rushkoff streamlines his philosophies allowing the reader to focus on the story of Zeke and his strange travels into an alternate dream dimension consisting of an all-night rave party, but in true Rushkoff-Cyberia fashion, the dance is never just a dance. It's a dance with a purpose, a dance to shape reality as well as the self.

Club Zero-G is a road map to discovering your own personal "secret self," much like Zeke does, and using that to destroy the power that "consensus reality" has over you. This is a true indie comic book and may not be for hardcore comic fan consumption. Rushkoff isn't attempting to bombard us with post-modern philosophies (thought Focault does rear his head), human deconstruction, or super-hero exploits. He's simply trying to built the themes of Cyberia into a workable example for the disenchanted youth. Zeke ultimately passes the torch of designer reality to the reader (one can see Rushkoff's knowledge of reader-response theory sporatically appearing throughout the book), and with it he leaves the future in the reader's hands. What you do with it is up to you.

Ok first off the art work is actually pretty damn good if you like comic art from 40z comics by Jim Mahfood, Invader Zim, Johnny homiciadal maniac ect..... But, seriously don't buy this flaming turd.... I checked this out from something called the Library which lets you look at books for free! Story plot is very very bad.....Take matrix take bill and teds adventure and spice in some akira rip offs and you have this bland book. The consensus has been slowly taking away our dreams towards making us all mindless slaves in our "awaken" reality. But, our hero Zeke gets to club zero thanks to some akira clones that brought certain people to the club. He's the key for the akira clones to break on through to the other side ie the present awoken world. And also they need him to help stop the consensus from making everyone mindless in either realm. Oi enough of this crap it goes on and on. Zeke gets those at the club to remember it in awaken world dad isnt dad or is he. Consense can offer him everything if he stops and oh boy big confirtation at the end where it's all up to Zeke to deterimine what's going to happen to reality as we know... What does he do?!?!? Oh guess what one makes their own choices and decisions in life cause Zeke choose's YOU!! Yes YOU!! Thats right!!! What the F crap ending is this?!? Why it's something out of choose your own adventure book or some crappy ass lesson brought to you by barny the loveable dinasour! The only way you could give this a 5 star rating is if your brain is rotted out on E bomb cause like matirx 2 half of this book waste pages just showing the kids at rave after rave!

If you are a parent, buy this graphical novel for your kids. If you are a young growing up human -- buy this book, too. It is a good map for the journey in exploring the under-layer and inner-mechanics of "LIFE".

"Douglas Rushkoff HIV=scans the gene-war of a chemical=anthropoid through Club Zero-G, the digital=chimpanzee's deconstruction declaration. Seize an abnormal living body-controller!" - Kenji Siratori, author of Blood Electric

What I can guess reading the book description is that this book is a "copy" of an anime series called Serial Experiments Lain, that ironically is inspired in some of rushkoff's stuff... well, lain is not a copy of rushkoff's books, it only uses some of him ideas to create a different story, but this graphic novel is almost a lain copy... but i think we can take it as a mutual homage :)