Scan barcode
geekwayne's review
3.0
'Red City' combines SF with noir/cop genre and does it quite well, unlike the hybrid science fiction/fantasy story I read that not long ago. It's got lots of familiar tropes that work pretty well.
Ex-Mars cop, Cal Talmage, is given a simple job to find a missing girl. Of course, if it were that simple, it would be a pretty short story, wouldn't it. Things go awry as Cal runs into old informants who seem to have agendas. Along the way, he gets framed for a murder, finds himself in the midst of a potential war between alien races, and meets up with an old partner who may have her own agenda. Can he find the girl and maybe stop an interstellar war?
The book has a good introduction by James Cotten of Dark Highway Films. The book works well as a kind of B-movie cop film. Think Red Heat meets Total Recall. I'm not sure why different alien races would inhabit the planets of our solar system, I'll go with it for the sake of the story. It's fun. The artist changes from issues 1 and 2 to issues 3 and 4. I prefer the artist in the first half and found the change mildly jarring. If I'd read it as individual issues, I likely wouldn't have noticed. Still, it was a fun read.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors, Image Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
Ex-Mars cop, Cal Talmage, is given a simple job to find a missing girl. Of course, if it were that simple, it would be a pretty short story, wouldn't it. Things go awry as Cal runs into old informants who seem to have agendas. Along the way, he gets framed for a murder, finds himself in the midst of a potential war between alien races, and meets up with an old partner who may have her own agenda. Can he find the girl and maybe stop an interstellar war?
The book has a good introduction by James Cotten of Dark Highway Films. The book works well as a kind of B-movie cop film. Think Red Heat meets Total Recall. I'm not sure why different alien races would inhabit the planets of our solar system, I'll go with it for the sake of the story. It's fun. The artist changes from issues 1 and 2 to issues 3 and 4. I prefer the artist in the first half and found the change mildly jarring. If I'd read it as individual issues, I likely wouldn't have noticed. Still, it was a fun read.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors, Image Comics and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
daynpitseleh's review
2.0
I received this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
It was alright. The art style wasn't my favorite, and the story didn't really go anywhere. It was hard to keep track of all the different people and who was fighting who. There were a couple of clever bits, but by the end, you were just left saying 'That's it?'
It was alright. The art style wasn't my favorite, and the story didn't really go anywhere. It was hard to keep track of all the different people and who was fighting who. There were a couple of clever bits, but by the end, you were just left saying 'That's it?'
esters's review
3.0
*** Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ***
Spoilers, maybe? I honestly don't know how much is a spoiler and what's ok to say in this case. It's not like it was all unexpected.
What to say about Red City. It's a very good comic book combination of science fiction and cop drama with a noir feel to it. The main character, Cal, has been many things in his life and now he's been ordered to find a Venus' ambassador's daughter. And because nothing can't be easy in the Red City, he gets himself in the middle of a complicated plot to stop a political treaty being signed.
Like I said, it wasn't unexpected. It's actually quite stereotypical story. But it is well written and it's set into well build and fairly complicated future so it doesn't feel too much like Sin City (only a little, I swear).
What I appreciated was the raw style of illustration. I don't always like it but I feel like in this case it fit perfectly to the story.
Spoilers, maybe? I honestly don't know how much is a spoiler and what's ok to say in this case. It's not like it was all unexpected.
What to say about Red City. It's a very good comic book combination of science fiction and cop drama with a noir feel to it. The main character, Cal, has been many things in his life and now he's been ordered to find a Venus' ambassador's daughter. And because nothing can't be easy in the Red City, he gets himself in the middle of a complicated plot to stop a political treaty being signed.
Like I said, it wasn't unexpected. It's actually quite stereotypical story. But it is well written and it's set into well build and fairly complicated future so it doesn't feel too much like Sin City (only a little, I swear).
What I appreciated was the raw style of illustration. I don't always like it but I feel like in this case it fit perfectly to the story.
More...