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theesotericcamel's review
4.0
This was a sumptuous feast for the senses! The physical book itself is an oversized album, which really shows off the fantastic art inside. It is very much a narrative artbook rather than a graphic novel. The art by Menton3 is dark yet refined, very reminiscent of H.R. Giger, along with hints of Modagliani. There is a sense of movement and wetness, especially with the brush strokes sometimes being thick and viable. Each page of the story is also a painting. Other guest artists also contribute to the story throughout, making for an interesting breaks in art style, while still remaining cohesive. And the story was very much made with the intention of being a multi-sensory experience. I first encountered the story through its sister album "Monocyte," a music album by Saltillo, that is the alias of Menton3, the visual artist of the story. The music album is a dark and brooding trip-hop experience with lots of Shakespearian quotes thrown in as samples throughout. And listening along to it as you read the story... It fits the visual aesthetics quite nicely. The story of the graphic novel is brief but dense. It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where humankind has been reduced to chattle, used as a type of energetic currency by the two fighting factions of immortals. These are the Olignostics, a cabal of the superwealthy that achieved immortality through technological prowess; and the Antideluvians, an ancient race of immortals that have come out of hiding and are implied to be a race of psychic vampires. Civilisation as we know it has long ago crumbled to make way for the two immortal races. And the Immortals have been fighting a stalemate war since then. And then along comes the Monocyte, a proxy for Azreal, who is implied to be the personification of death. And Monocyte is out to destroy the whole thing, and not taking any sides. This is, of course, a very simplified version of the story, and despite unfolding over only 4 chapters, it requires more than one reading to really understand the story. The story is told very obliquely, with a lot of the plot implied over references, especially in the name of the characters and places. A knowledge of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish mysticism and the occult will greatly aid in piecing together and understanding the story. So be warned, despite being a graphic novel, it is not an easy read. My take is that it is the story of uncreation, how existence as a whole will finally end. There are many mirrors to the creation myth, as well as references to the Qlippoth, the Tree of Death from Jewish Mysticism. There are also Gnostic Christian principles at play with in the story and how the characters relate to each other and (un)creation. For those who are willing to spend the time, there is a lot to uncover here. I for one appreciate the idea of a Graphic Novel as a valid medium to explore more conceptual and complicated narrative ideas.
cheat_commando's review
3.0
Just like I like my stories - incredible sense of visual design, portentous, flowery dialogue, and an utterly incomprehensible plot. Don't try too hard and I'm sure you'll have a good time too.
rmgebhardt's review
2.0
Ummmm... what the hell was this? To start, the art was phenomenal, for sure... but was there a story? It seemed like a bunch of pseudo-artsy wannabe deep bullshit that didn't really make any sense whatsoever. I slogged through because the art was engaging, but if the art was only average this would be a gigantic piece of garbage that no one would want to read (except for faux-intellectual art-school kids).
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