Customer Reviews

Dead @ 17: Compendium Edition

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

 

 

I thought Dead@17 was going to be a fun, Buffy-esque horror adventure yarn filled with zombie massacres and high school romance. Boy, was I wrong. But I wouldn't have it any other way. Sure, the first "series" was kinda like that, aside from the big shock (which I won't reveal, though you could probably figure it out by the title) that comes in the first five pages. By the time I finished the second series, I couldn't believe what I was reading. And I couldn't stop.

Josh Howard fills his tale of supernatural rebirth and unavoidable destiny with realistic, truthful characters, all of whom you can't help but love--even in an oddly personal way. Sure, the girls are easy on the eyes and there is a fair amount of bloodshed throughout. But what Howard has crafted is a deep, religious saga of love and sacrifice. It's a bit heady, and right now I'm waiting for my daughter to read it so I can get a good guage on how a teenage girl perceives the biblical subtext present in a story aimed, presumably, at teenagers. (Subtext, pft! This is a story that could have come right out of the old testament, updated for the cell phone age)

I'm a thirty-year-old comic reader (and avid novel reader, don't forget) who loves good stories. I've given up on getting such quality from the dregs of Hollywood and I've found that the best original visual storytelling being done today is in comics. Josh Howard is one of the true visionaries of this age. Dead@17 is a must-read for anyone, young or old, hip or square, who likes to be intrigued, shocked and, most importantly, entertained.

When I first saw this book, I knew I had to make it mine. It's just a really attractive volume. The cover is wonderful, and the art on the inside matches. Writer/artist Josh Howard has a really interesting style that I knew would vibe well with a supernatural, Buffy-esque story. Then, I turned the book over and was wowed by the praise. Things like "...one of the most thought-provoking character-driven horror tales in years" and "As a creator, Howard should be considered with some of the top names in the industry" are really convincing. Plus, the book is a steal! It collects four TPBs worth of story into one affordable volume.

Overall, I mildly enjoyed the book. I didn't love it the way I expected to, and here is why. Out of the four story arcs... the first three are way too similar. Nara fights demons in the service of Bolabogg along with some friends, insert some teen drama, and you've got the first three arcs. Minor story bits are definitely different, though, but to achieve the epic scope that the series is obviously shooting for, there needs to be more things happening. It would be easily overlooked if this series was character-driven like one of the quotes on the back says, but it's probably among the most plot-driven books I've read. The characters don't act, things happen to them and they REact. The drama between them never lasts, there are no character arcs, and when characters go through big changes (Hazy, in the last arc), the changes happen between the arcs! The plot--when it does change a bit, like including a character like Violet--is definitely interesting, and the main struggle between the Heavenly forces and the demons is definitely a winner, though I wish Howard had brought a big more character stuff and intrigue to it.

The best arcs were the first and last, because the first introduced the characters and seemed to be setting up soe pretty cool stuff, and the last arc had by far the best writing. By the last arc, Howard still had characters speaking in cliches (a man who just met Asia literally says, "You've been running all your life, and you're running now. You know what I'm saying is true, you just don't want to believe it."), but the plot is finally something different, and the characters are actually pulled in interesting ways. If the next volumes (he's now publishing the "Afterbirth" arc) are as interesting as this arc was, then the series might become something special. But as for the first three volumes, while they're good for some basic hot chicks fighting demons action and teenage melodrama, there isn't much depth.

The art, though, is great. It improves with each arc, too, which I loved. In the first arc, the character designs were definitely very cool, but there were some characters I had trouble telling apart. With sharp angled faces and similar hair, it's pretty difficult to differentiate between Guy With Black Hair #1, Guy With Black Hair #2, and Guy With Black Hair #3. But that was only a minor issue in the first two arcs. By the third and forth, the art had gotten to the place I wanted it to. Other than the early issues of Brian K. Vaughan's wonderful series Runaways, I'm not even sure what other style of art I can compare it to. It's a great sight to behold, and one of the best aspects of the book.

Overall, it's worth buying. The basic outline for a good story is here, and while it takes entirely too far to realize its potential, it becomes something worth reading by the time the story wraps up. It's not a must have, but if you're looking for something new to read, give DEAD @ 17 a try.

6/10

This Ultimate Edition collects all of the Dead@17 stories up to this point. It is a huge volume. If you have been holding out, this is the book you are waiting for. This will catch you up. This is everything that leads up to the new series, "Dead@17 Afterbirth". In addition to that, you get some pretty fine pinups at the back of the book.

I have heard this story compared to Buffy. I am in the opinion that it is nothing like that. I can see where people might draw the parallel. This story does have teenagers and is of a supernatural nature. This is where the parallel ends. I will say that if you like Buffy, this book is for you. If you are a horror fan at all, this title is for you.

The story is pretty much for most ages. This is a story I would share with anyone that was 10 or older. If I had to pick a target audience for this, I would go with teens. I do think that Older people will enjoy it as well. It has a "cult classic" feel to it.

As far as the actual story goes... what can I say? I read the whole book in one sitting. I could have put it down. I just didn't want to. I have actually read it twice since I got it. This story has at least one character you will identify with. Does not hurt that the art is top notch.

The art style should appeal to most. It is equally attractive to the young for it's "animation" style, as it is to older readers for it's "pin up" quality.The art stands on it's own and is unique. It does look as though it has some influences though. I would compare it to the Batman animated series done by Bruce Timm. You know... if Batman was a supernatural thriller.

I am not going to say that this is for everyone. This is not a gory boob fest. If you are looking for excessive blood and gore this is not for you. There is also no nudity. The story has some Christian undertones that might not appeal to all.

I myself loved this book. I would reccomend it to anyone. This is an example of the best that independent comics has to offer. To read this is to become a Josh Howard fan.

Check out Josh's website for more information on his work.

[...]

This is pretty awesome in that it's all FOUR Dead @ 17 series that are out there, for the first time in TPB format, at standard size.

It's got the updated art from Viper Comics' (UGH, their publishing is terrible) D@17 Compendium (which was, I think, just volumes 1-3, and even then, that, like VC's tbp's, clocked in at a near-manga size format.

There's only a couple of things preventing this from being a full on 5 stars: first, the cover isn't the nicest paper (really, Image shoulda done this as a hardcover release for 5-10 more), and, it's missing cover imagery sadly. It does have chapter breaks (chapters being each of the volumes), and a couple of new pinups in the back.

The story is fairly straightforward, but it's also unique in that it gets into religion more than, say, Buffy or other "vs. demons" series that are out there, which seem to say "Hell is here, but there's no Heaven". It deals with ressurection, obviously, but religion isn't for everyone, hey.

This leads into D@17 V: Afterbirth.

Finally, if you really want the whole tie ins, look for Josh Howard's Lost Books of Eve, a prequel to D@17, and Black Harvest, which takes place in the same time frame as this series.

This graphic novel sucked. I had no idea i was going to be spoon-fed a bunch of christian propaganda. I got this after having read hack slash and this title being suggested to me. The art is great. Has that saturday morning cartoon look throughout. But as soon as the book started having the heavy christian undertones, i said, what the hell? It just spun into all out silliness from that point on. Maybe if the idea of a cute busty jailbait soldier of god who never disrobes sounds good to you, then you might love it.

So I remembered reading this online and saw it for cheap and decided to pick it up. It starts out pretty good, interesting hook, things move along and well... the problems start. It goes from "ooohhh that's interesting, there are Christian undertones to everything that's going on." To, "Okay, God and Jesus are pretty rad dudes, I get it." But that's only in the first 3 parts, in the 4th part the gloves come off and the story of Muslim demons begins. That's right kids. Suicide bombers, unholy abominations telling people to submit to the peace and truth of the prophet, 3 demon possessed people calling each other brother and saying "their holy work" aka campaign of terror must begin, there are a lot of examples. Oh I didn't mention the best part those 3 aforementioned demon possessed people? There is a quarter page panel devoted to showing one of them putting on a headband with a green "demonic" symbol. More commonly that symbol can be recognized as the crescent and star symbol of Islam. As a Muslim man myself you can imagine how upset I was to find out someone had exposed our demonic nature. This story starts out okay, then goes in 10 directions at once losing all focus, and ends with a heaping helping of Bigotry and Mighty Whitey. Oh yeah, the only people with a skin tone darker than "Beach Weekend" are all bad guys? Except for like 1 or 2 token extras who promptly die. Even if you take out the 4th part of the book, ignoring all the heavy handed twisted and unfair characterizations, you still get a book that meanders its way to an unsatisfying conclusion. All in all this book was really disappointing. And Bigoted, can't forget about the huge amount of bigotry.

But the art was good, apparently God loves scantily clad white women. So I guess we have that in common.

The story might not seem terribly original, but there's plenty variations and it's told coherently. My only complaint is this one male character who's face is a little jarring, like the perspective wasn't completely thought out in some drawings of him. But other than that, the artwork is very clean and solid.

This series is about a girl with special powers. That battle good and evil. I will leave it at that so I wont ruin the story. The drawing is good. The book collects the first parts of the story. It is worth the money and a good buy. I cant really say to much without telling the storyline. I will say if you like supernatural stories then this is something you should check out. If not then stay away from it.

A recommended easy to follow, fun and adventure filled read that has a great storyline and beautiful artwork which makes for a wonderful book that's hard to put down, and one that's so easy to pick up and read repeatedly. Definately worth owning as well as worth buying for others as a gift to enjoy.