Customer Reviews

Steam Punk: Drama Obscura

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In the second volume of Joe Kelly's, writer of "The Obsidian Age"(JLA)And "Godfall"(Superman), which are awesome as well, continues his trek into the underbelly of the Absinthian nightmare. Chris Bachello's drawing is some of the most complex and awe inspiring yet. It will require multiple readings to fully appreciate the detail Chris puts into the art- work. An epic journey is slowly unfolding, with a nice cliffhanger ending. Quite possibly one of the best trades ever put out.

Without giving away too many of the plot twists, I guess I can say that this is an alternate-history fantasy-punk story, based in a world where the main character wakes up in a "Victorian Era" gone terribly wrong. Historic figures such as Queen Victoria and Napoleon pop in but won't resemble anything you recall from world history class. The main character, Cole Blaquesmith, is part man, part coal-powered machine, and while trying to recall his lost memories, find his lost love, and fix time, he becomes the hero of a revolutionary movement against the prevailing dictator, a mad scientist-type villain named Absinthe.

I just finished reading the "Steampunk:Manimatron" and "Steampunk:Drama Obscura" graphic novels. These contain the 12 comics, prologue and preview comic "Steampunk Catechism." Sadly, the series ended halfway through, before it was finished (24 comics were planned, according to wikipedia).

With that in mind, though, it's still worth reading. Very compelling - if difficult to follow - non-linear story-telling, with very intense artwork. I found myself wishing I had a magnifying glass, or that the pictures were twice as large. It is sometimes difficult to tell who is saying what, in what order, and what is going on. Still, it's rich, textured, interesting and action-packed, with great characters. Just keep reading, and in some strange way, it all begins to make sense.

I started out buying just comics 1-3, and based on those, went ahead and purchased both graphic novels. I'm not a comics geek, I've only read a few other things, such as 1602 and Watchmen, so I'm no expert. But I think this comic begs to be a movie! I would LOVE to see Cole Blaquesmith, Victoria, Laslo, Absinthe and Faust on the big screen.

The next addition to the world of steampunk takes you deeper into the brilliant mayhem of Joe Kelly and Chris Bachalo's dark fantasy legend. With conflicted hereos, deadly enemies, and a doomed love, Drama Obscura brings you further into the twisted realm of Steampunk. A must for fans and those not yet exposed to this terriffic series.

An intriguing world of Victorian England gone mad with steam-punk and animal-man hybrids. The characters are all very original, the illustrations detailed, crowded and sometimes very confusing. The plot is a little hard to understand as is the sequence of the panels. All in all this requires a tedious amount of work to keep up with, but if the premise and atmosphere do it for you, I would say it is worth the read. I enjoyed the first title and am on my way to beginning the second. I wish they had spaced things out a bit more, given some of the panels more breathing room, some of the characters more time to develop but the writers enjoy throwing us in to the melting pot, so to speak, and letting us figure things out on our own.