The Matrix Comics, Vol. 1 [Paperback]

Geof Darrow (Author), Andy Wachowski (Author), Larry Wachowski (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Burlyman Entertainment (November 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932700005
• ISBN-13: 978-1932700008
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 6.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent expansion of the Matrix mythology, November 17, 2003

By 

Blake Petit "Novelist, columnist & reviewer" (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Matrix Comics, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Like the "Animatrix" shorts, this book is a clever expansion into the Matrix universe -- 12 comic book stories (well... 11 comic book stories and one prose short story) that tell new tales playing with the toys the Wachowskis created. It's not essential reading for people who are fans of the movies but just want to know what's going on, but most of the stories in this book are clever and inventive in their own right.

Ted McKeever's entry may be the best in the book -- the story of a woman who, when given a choice between a blue pill and a red pill, chose the blue. The Wachowskis chime in with their own story, about the robot B1-66ER, whose murder of its owner sparked the first war between humans and machines -- this story in particular tied in with The Animatrix. Neil Gaiman, one of the best writers on the planet these days, did a short story with a couple of illustrations rather than a comic book story. His tale, about a man forced to live several lives in the Matrix, plays with the nature of time the way the films play with the nature of reality. It's one of the standouts.

A couple of the stories are just so-so -- John Van Fleet and Bill Sienkiwicz, I'm afraid, didn't add too much to the world of the Matrix, but the rest of the stories are fantastic. Recommended for anyone who wants to delve deeper into this still-fascinating world.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Some Background might be required..., April 7, 2004

By 

SigmaEcho "sigmaecho" (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Matrix Comics, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

Just from looking at a few comments on this book, I can see that many who might be interested in buying this book might need to know a little bit about the collection before they read it, or they might not fully enjoy it.

Many have criticized the book for not expounding on the matrix and instead dwell around the foundation of the first film. This is because many of these stories were started before the first film was even released, to be used as content for the movie's website. This is a collection of many of the older stories, and only a few of the more recent comics. For example, the first story, which tells essentially the same story as "The Second Renaissance, Part 1" from the Animatrix was written well before work on any of the sequels had begun. So keep in mind that this book is primarily works based on the world of the matrix before the sequels. For those of you looking for an expansion on the sequels, you definitely should check out the entire collection for free at thematrix.com. And then look for the other volumes to follow that will collect the rest of the comics, which DO expand on what we saw in Reloaded and Revolutions and the Animatrix.

The art has been attacked as well, which is too bad since the purpose was to get more people into comics who might not normally pick one up. Even if you don't like any type of comics, I would still recommend this. Sure, a panel drawing can't capture the splendor of an elaborately choreographed fight scene, but it's not supposed to. The intention here is to tell a good story. For anyone who enjoys the occasional graphic novel, you'll definitely appreciate the collection of very talented artists and writers assembled.

Overall, I would say that while this collection doesn't collect only the best stories from the series, it does collect many of the better ones, including my 2 favorites, making it an excellent start to the books. Instead, this collection is intentionally varied in it's art and story-telling style, so that there's something here for everyone. So if you liked comics like Star Wars Tales, you'll appreciate the variety to this collection. The two outstanding stories here are "Butterfly" and "There are no Flowers in the Real World". They are not to be missed, whether you enjoyed the sequels or not.

To be honest I think there were as many mediocre stories in this book as great ones, but this is offset by the beautiful artwork and the fact that when all the comics are finally collected, it will be an amazing book collection. Since many of the best stories are still only on the website, I'm looking forward to the subsequent volumes since reading them online just doesn't compare to actually having the book in your hands.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Animatrix 2.0, November 12, 2003

By 

Manythings "manythings711" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Matrix Comics, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

I never read these comics online. I only briefly heard of their existence. I saw this collection at my local comic store and at once picked it up. It plays like a continuation of all the brilliant shorts in the Animatrix video. It consists of 12 shorts that explore different ideas and philosophies of the matrix world. The artwork is beautiful, like all things matrix, only the best are at work here. The stories are compelling and raise some great questions that not even the animatrix touches on. For example in one short a young girl seems to have the ability to change shells in the matrix like the agents. (Huh? thats what I thought too.)I cannot wait for volume two and to one day have them all in this great collection. For matrix junkies who need to have it all, this is a must have. Especially if you dug the stories in the Animatrix DVD.