Customer Reviews

Revelations

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Revelations is a 168 page trade paperback from Dark Horse comics that collects the complete, six issue mini-series. Revelations is decidedly Da Vinci Code inspsired with its conspiracies and Catholic hierarchy cover-ups although it ends up being decidedly darker in tone than Dan Brown's blockbuster.

As the story opens a Vatican Cardinal falls, or is thrown from a window and impaled on the gates below. Obviously dead, that doesn't stop a Latin-chanting assailant from still attempting to stab the Cardinal with an odd looking dagger. Cut to London and the apartment of Detective Charlie Northern who receives a late visitor one evening, an old friend Marcel LeClair, himself now a Cardinal at the Vatican. LeClair brings Northen to Vatican City to investigate the death of Cardinal Richleau who many considered the next in line to become Pope.

His investigation is hindered by the powerful Cardinal Toscianni who is covering up the events of Richleau's death and the mysterious, dagger-wielding assailant. The Italian police are little help and come off as rank amateur bumblers. The facts don't add up as various guards report hearing different things. Northern finds an ally in Lucille Pelliccia who heads up the accounting firm that handles the Vatican's finances. A mysterious coin leads Northen to a secret society called the Palladian Fathers and rumors of black masses and devil worshipping.

Soon, a coroner friend of Northern's who performed an autopsy on the Cardinal's body is found brutally murdered and someone tries to run down Charlie in the streets. Northern is getting close to something but the question is what? And who is the mysterious man feeding Northern tips about the investigation?

Revelations is a darkly painted mystery horror and surprisingly sinister. I was expecting Northern to be a typical downtrodden police detective but writer Paul Jenkins truly breathes life into the character. Northern is part John Constantine and part Sherlock Holmes, or perhaps Columbo might be the better comparison. Humberto Ramos' art isn't t he typed you'd expect to find in a book of this tone as it is quirky, and slightly cartoony, but ends up working quite well. The climax is starkly horrifying as Jenkins throws readers a big curveball.

My only nitpick about the book would be the somewhat rambling, paranoid introduction by Bob Harris written from a trench somewhere deep on the left. That aside, Revelations is one outstanding book.

Reviewed by Tim Janson

What caught my eye when I bought Revelations (the bound edition of all six installments) was the cover art. I thought it was darn good. Then the premise of the story. I love tales that are set in a religious milieu.

I will say that the cover art's promise of interesting visuals is fully delivered between the pages. Ramos rocks! And the dialogue has some amusing, sarcastic, snappy moments that made me want to read on. The story itself is dark, it's painful, and it's not necessarily all that unique. You've seen some version of this before.

You have the main character, a detective from England who's lost his faith, a priest from the Vatican who's old pals with him and comes to ask his investigation into a vexing murder of a high church official (that the detective used to know), and a crime that is clearly part of some conspiracy. Our cynical, chain-smoking detective keeps coming against odd bits of facts, and as he unravels the case, he comes face to face with the fact that learning the truth can really flip your world tuchis over tea kettle.

There are murders, there are flagellants, there is sex, there is subterfuge, there's a bunch of latin chanting, there is misdirection, there's a sexy femal attorney,there is friendship, there is suicide, and there is humor to offset some of the dark stuff.

I'd recommend it if this sounds like the sort of story you'd enjoy, and I'd recommend it for the artwork alone, really. But it's not a happy story and, once you come to the end, it's not entirely satisfying. But I don't think it was meant to satisfy, not at all. I think this comics series was intended to bring a thorn into your side, discomfort you, and that's sometimes good.

I was very pleasantly surprised at the high quality of artwork and excellence of the writer's craft in this beautiful graphic novel. Perhaps a worn out phrase but this book is a tour de force. A must have, especially for the conspiracy fans among us. Can't go wrong with this one!

Paul Jenkins' Revelations is an dark and interesting short read. Granted, it is a graphic novel (read: large comic book), but I finished the thing cover to cover in about 90 minutes. The fact that I finished it in a single sitting is a testment to the interesting nature of the storyline.

The storyline does throw a few curves, but overall I would consider the plot reather simple. The story takes a bit to get going, and then wraps up at a furious pace in the last 5-10 pages. Though the ending is very dark, it may be slightly lost on those unfamiliar to Christian mythology and/or the Bible's Revelations (go figure). Having that supplemental knowledge definately adds to the story. At the end, I was left wanting more substance in the conclusion.

I would reccomend this to nearly everyone with the caveat that is probably a PG-13 book for language and graphics.