Customer Reviews

The Territory

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2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"The Territory" is part Sci-Fi, part horror, mixing elements from popular films such as The Matrix, Dark City, and Minority Report into a sprawling, yet uneven graphic novel. The story begins as a man named Jack finds himself stranded on a ocean reef and is rescued by pirates. He's sold into slavery and eventually purchased by a powerful criminal lord named Max. Jack plies his trade in the arena, fighting to the death for the amusement of the rich and has his eye on Max's girlfriend Scarlett. Jack finally gets fed up with Max's abuse of Scarlett and the pair jump off the ship they are on...and then the story gets REALLY screwy. Jack wakes on an island in time to see his lunch for a giant slug. He kills the beast and sets out to find Scarlett. Instead he finds Ruby, another red-haired beauty who is much like Scarlett.

Jack finds himself in a "brave new world" where everything is controlled by the Mesh Masters and Ruby leads a group of rebels against their tyranny. Meanwhile Jack keeps having visions of long, black tentacles reaching out for him as well as a vision of a man sitting idly in a coffee shop. Jack's world changes again, this time finding a red haired prostitute and her pimp Elgordo who looks just like Max.

And on we go with Jack's reality ever changing and the same people turning up with new names and personalities. It won't take an astute reader long, especially if you've seen the above films, to pretty quickly get a grasp on the secret of Jack's life and it ends up being rather anti-climactic. Jack doesn't stay in one reality long enough for anyone to really care about what happens and it all becomes quite confusing and dull to boot.

Jamie Delano has done vastly superior work to "The Territory" notably on Hellblazer where he was the writer for most of the first four years of that title. Artist David Lloyd is best known for his work on "V for Vendetta" with Alan Moore and has a distinctive Gene Colan influence.

Give it 2 ? stars.

Reviewed by Tim Janson