BOHICA (Negation, Book 1) (Paperback)

by Tony Bedard (Author), Paul Pelletier (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
CrossGen comics readers have been lured into a complicated maze of interrelated story lines. The books of the CrossGen universe leave crucial mysteries unresolved, but hint that readers might be able to figure it out if they buy everything CrossGen publishes. Fat chance. Even if fans could keep up with CrossGen's production, it's unlikely the company will reveal all the secrets and give up a major sales hook. Nevertheless, Negation does use these multiple worlds effectively. In this book, soldiers of the villainous Negation empire have kidnapped characters from many CrossGen titles in order to test them through mortal combat. Planning future conquests, the Negation empire wants to know which might be the tougher foe: Obregon Caine, from the Sigil series, or, say, Evinlea, from The First series. When the CrossGen captives escape, the Negation forces pursue, and the escapees try to accommodate their wildly eclectic talents to survive. The fugitives are a diverse bunch and their interpersonal conflicts can be entertaining. Star Trek fans will be amused by a bumbling starship crew that the escapees encounter. But mainly it's the book's unusually good color artwork that will keep readers hooked. The Negation troopers always look cool when they show up in other CrossGen titles, and Pelletier amusingly depicts the rest of the empire. He makes High Castellan Komptin, the jailer charged with recapturing the escapees, simultaneously cute and threatening, while Lawbringer Qztr, also out to recapture the heroes, is an S&M leather freak's dream. Even if it doesn't ultimately explain the CrossGen universe, this book is a feast for the eyes.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School-One hundred beings from the CrossGen universe have been abducted and taken through a dimensional rift to a world controlled by the Negation. The prisoners exist in fear and anarchy. Many have abilities beyond those of most humans, but something about their prison renders their powers almost useless. Only Obregon Kaine, a former captain with the 24th armored air cavalry, has the wits and experience to guess what's going on, and he concocts a plan to break out. During the attempt, the Negation high command destroys the facility and some inmates escape, including Kaine. High Castellan Komptin, who was in charge of the prison experiment, develops a grudge against him and musters the Negation to track him down. "Bohica" is an acronym for "Bend Over, Here It Comes Again," and that basically describes the situation, which goes from bad to worse. It's easy to feel Kaine's frustration with people who have vast cosmic powers and itty-bitty brains, and touches of humor help keep things from being relentlessly bleak.
Susan Salpini, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Cross Generation Comics (October 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931484309
• ISBN-13: 978-1931484305
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,313,079 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars "Bend over, here it comes again!", June 10, 2009

By	H. Bala "Me Too Can Read" (Carson - hey, we have an IKEA store! - CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

During CrossGen Comics' run NEGATION proved to be one of its most pivotal titles. (Sorry for the repetition, if you already know the following.) Most of CrossGen's comic books ran with a common theme, that of the sigil, a mark which granted great power to its bearer. Plenty of CrossGen comics featured at least one character with such a sigil, although the abilities conveyed did differ. No surprise that folks tended to call CrossGen Comics the Sigilverse. Sigilverse's mythos relied heavily on the legend of Atlantis (CRUX), the bickering gods of CrossGen (THE FIRST), and these seemingly omnipresent sigils. And then there's the Negation universe...

Over time the vile Negation Empirium has expanded its martial conquest to consume much of its known universe. Ever seeking larger dominion, the Negation's god-emperor Charon hungrily eyes the Sigilverse. Preparatory to invasion, one hundred denizens, culled from disparate alien homeworlds in the Sigilverse, are abducted and taken to a prison planet in the Negation universe, there to be mercilessly tested and experimented on. Constant CrossGen readers will readily identify character types from various titles: an Atlantean (CRUX), a Saurian (SIGIL), a goddess (THE FIRST), a sorcerer (MYSTIC), and a number of sigil-bearers. Now this is a damn formidable bunch of captives, and it's good, common-sense strategy on the Negation army's part to suss out the strengths and weaknesses of that which they're about to invade. Amongst the kidnapped powerhouses a smattering of ordinary humans is peppered in, to serve as the control element to the experiment. One of these ordinary humans is Obregon Kaine, and he turns out to be the most dangerous of this lot.

Not that you could tell it, at the start. Absent of extraordinary power, Obregon Kaine is initially treated with disdain by his fellow captives and even mockingly nicknamed "the Pest." But Kaine perseveres and, gifted with a brilliant tactical mind and boasting vast military expertise, he soon shows his mettle. It's Kaine who comes up with a daring plan for the prisoners to break out of their maximum security facility. And it's Kaine who finds himself the de facto leader of the escapees. NEGATION tells of the many adventures of Kaine and his ragtag bunch as they roam the Negation spaceways, all the while trying to stay one step ahead of the Negation forces. NEGATION Vol. 1: BOHICA! collects the prequel and the first six issues of this series. I consider it a must get.

NEGATION went for 27 strong issues until the CrossGen company capsized. What sucks tremendously is that CrossGen's going under coincided with the launching of THE NEGATION WAR mini-series, which was to be CrossGen's big company crossover event and which was supposed to unveil some big truths concerning the Sigilverse. As it is, only the first two issues of THE NEGATION WAR were released. For what it's worth NEGATION goes a ways into fleshing out the background of that mini-series. ¡Qué lástima!

NEGATION is an epic action-packed space opera, and never better than when Kaine and his crew are up against it. It was the only ongoing title set strictly in the Negation universe, and, as such, the readers were made privy to that "behind-enemy-lines" vibe. Kaine and compadres certainly fall within the god-emperor Charon's peripherals, but two memorable villains are introduced and they're the ones against whom Kaine would predominantly contend. High Castellan Komptin is the prison planet warden, and it says something about Kaine's no-nonsense prickliness that he almost immediately makes a personal enemy of the warden. NEGATION isn't known for its comedy, but one of the funnier moments surfaces when Kaine awaits the arrival of the fearsome Komptin... only to find the warden falling short of expectations. Still, Komptin would prove to be a first class schemer and a survivor, even though he does get fixated with corralling Kaine.

Few are thought to be as mighty as the assembly of gods known as the First. But in the Negation universe the Lawbringers are deemed to be equally powerful, and Lawbringer Qztr is Charon's most favored elite enforcer. This guy, Qztr, is insanely dangerous and goes around clad in form fitting black leather, so I guess he's also freakylicious. In menacing appearance and power level, he's pretty up there as a Big Bad.

Obviously Obregon Kaine is the central character, and he's a good one. Kaine has a mysterious past and he's very much the underdog in the superhuman powers department. But he gets by on his wits and his military background. It's an ensemble cast, though, and writer Tony Bedard keeps it interesting with Kaine's band of escapees who tend to bicker and back stab and try to one up each other. Kaine's precarious leadership is most often challenged by Evinlea, one of the First and, therefore, ridiculously powerful and haughty and condescending. But getting stuck in the Negation universe has done some hinky stuff to those with superhuman talents, rendering full control of these talents an iffy thing. This forces Evinlea to cooperate with Kaine and the others, but she doesn't have to like it.

Running now thru Kaine's desperate little band: After Evinlea, there's a mechanical genius, a sorcerer from the MYSTIC world, a reptilian female scout, an Atlantean woman who believes all this is a dream, a constable who can leach off her opponents' strengths (although her opponents don't seem to feel the loss); a healer who thru direct contact can also regulate other people's powers (Evinlea pretty much bogarts him for her own use). Other than Kaine himself, three characters intrigue me. Komptin, who is just a fun character to read about, even though he's a bad guy. I also dig the indestructible baby whose true identity ties into a momentous revelation all across the CrossGen universe. And then there's the audacious dread pirate Drake whose sigil grants him one of the more abstract talents out there: it lends him any ability he needs to take whatever he wants, providing he knows his target's location. Some of these characters are wise, some are clueless, some are subversive, some (most?) are out for themselves. It makes for an uneasy recipe, and a constant migraine for Obregon Kaine.

Writer Tony Bedard keeps things making sense, even though there's a lot of characters and the story moves along at a hectic clip. Again, it's a shame that NEGATION ended before its time because this title reeked of potential, and only some of it was met (I guess you could say the same for CrossGen Comics as a whole). Penciller Paul Pelletier keeps up with the breakneck pace and turns in some very decent stuff. In fact, this TPB also comes with a flattering fluff piece on Pelletier, one quote from which is "Pelletier's hyper-detailed pages can reduce grown inkers to tears."

Okay, what doesn't work for me is when the story takes a weird turn by introducing the Kremmin Continuum, which is intentionally reminiscent of Star Trek's United Federation of Planets, and its hapless captain an obvious wink to Captain Kirk. This attempt at referential humor not only falls flat but takes something away from the tautness and suspense of the story. And that's really my only gripe.

And for those wondering just what the hell "Bohica!" means, "Bohica!" being that expletive Kaine is always saying, well, it's an acronym along the lines of FUBAR. When Kaine finally explained what it stood for, my first reaction was "That's perfect!" And, in the Negation universe, it's very apropos and should be frequently uttered.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of BOHICA, May 31, 2003

By	Chris H. Metzger "melville10" (Lindenwold, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tony Bedard returns to comics in this all new monthly. The artwork is stunning and the story is solid as well. Several hundred beings from the Crossgen Universe are abducted by the Negation Empire. One character, Obregon Kaine, assumes the role of leader and uses his smarts to help himself and others escape but they are constantly on the run from the empire and must use their wits and powers to constantly elude them. The dialogue is wonderful and the part where the Kremmin appear is hysterical. If your a fan of films like The Dirty Dozen or Kelly's Heroes then this is a match made in Heaven.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I read it by mistake and I got hooked!, November 13, 2002

By	Blake Petit "Novelist, Comixtreme.com columni... (Ama, Louisiana United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Because I already read probably about two-thirds of the CrossGen line, I was planning to skip "The Negation" when it came out. (Not because the CrossGen books weren't good, but just the opposite! I couldn't afford any more!) The clerk at my comic shop dropped the Prequel issue into my reserved folder by mistake, and I decided to pick it up anyway -- and got immediately hooked.

Although each CrossGen comic series stands on its own, they do take place in a shared universe with clues as to an overall pattern appearing in each title. For fans like myself, who enjoy solving the puzzle, this book and Crux are absolutely essential. All of the diverse elements and intriguing potentials of the universe come together in these books. "The Negation" is about a band of characters from the CrossGen universe -- some from worlds we have visited in the other titles, others we have not -- who are abducted by the Negation and brought to their own universe for experimentation. A few of them break out and begin themselves to piece together the mysteries CrossGen readers have pondered since the company debuted -- What are the Negation? What do they want? What is the secret of the sigils?

This is a book for any comic fan who digs science fiction, fantasy, mystery, military-style action or superheroics. In fact, the only downside to this book is that once you start reading it, you'll want to get ALL of the CrossGen titles to help you piece it together.