In many ways, Archaia's The Secret History Omnibus ($34.95) is what I expected it to be -- but it also managed to surprise me.
The Omnibus, which collects the ongoing Secret History
series, begins in pre-history, where four kids (called "Archons," which
may be their tribal name) are given four runestone talismans of immense
magical power by a dying shaman. His one warning: Don't use them
together. Which the two boys, Dyo and Erlin, and two girls, Aker and
Reka, promptly do, in order to punish an invading tribe. That calls down
an asteroid, which wipes out just about everything in the vicinity,
including the invaders and their own tribe.
Thanks to the talismans the kids are immortal, so instead of dying they simply separate. What follows is exactly what you'd expect: The four are significant players in the history we don't know behind the history we do know.
What surprised me, though, is that writer Jean-Pierre Pécau doesn't take the easy, predictable routes. For one thing, his four Archons are surprisingly petty and immature for immortals - almost as if they learn nothing from their long lives. Dyo is power-mad, Reka is paranoid and possibly insane, Erlin is cold-blooded and diffident, Aker is earthy and engaged. (And yes, I noticed that Aker and Reka are the same name reversed, and that Erlin is close to Merlin and Dyo similar to Deo, or "God" in Latin. What this means, if anything, I couldn't infer.)
Further, and more importantly, Pécau doesn't put his immortals exactly where I expect them to be, nor have them do what I expect them to do. I assumed each would have some major influence on the big turning points of history. But Pécau plays a more subtle game, placing his Archons mise en scène to history's turning points, in unexpected places.
We
do discover that the Archons are responsible for the parting of the Red
Sea in Genesis, the Grail myth, the Black Plague (to some degree) and
so forth. But elsewhere (elsewhen?) like the Crusades, the Napoleonic
Wars and World War I, their actions seem almost incidental - a secret
history simply occurring alongside major events, not causing them.
All of which is fascinating, although at times I simply felt lost, despite being fairly well-versed in world history. I found myself wondering if there was any point to all these shenanigans. But I still kept turning the pages, looking for an elusive grail of my own, which says a lot about the story's strong premise and implacable grip on the imagination.
Further, let me praise the art. The bulk of it is by Igor Kordey, who has since made a name for himself at Marvel (Cable) and elsewhere. It is simply beautiful, and his research is impeccable. I can tell what era the story is in by clothing and architecture alone, which is a breathtaking feat - especially considering that the subtitle of the book is Volume One: From the Dawn of Time to World War I. That's a lot of research!
Elsewhere:
* My wife is a big fan of Sweet Tooth, a post-apocalyptic series from DC/Vertigo where most humans are dying from a mysterious plague, while human-animal hybrids are being born for equally mysterious reasons. Since the hybrids are immune to the plague, the remaining humans are desperate to dissect them and find what protects them.
Our
protagonist is the Sweet Tooth of the title, a boy with antlers who
loves candy bars (hence the nickname), and a tough former hockey player
who captures the boy for the bloodthirsty scientists, but suffers an
attack of conscience. Writer Jeff Lemire does an excellent job of
fleshing out the characters and their shabby world, although I do have
reservations about the art (also by Lemire), which is always sketchy and
often amateurish. Still, the story is strong enough to bring me back
each month, and allows me to recommend the first collection, Sweet Tooth: Out of the Deep Woods ($9.99).
* I've mentioned before how much I'm enjoying Marvel's reprints of its "big monster" books from the 1950s, and Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales of Suspense Vol. 3 ($59.99) is no exception. With most of the stories by Stan Lee and most of the art by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Don Heck, it's giddy fun by the top pros of the day about Oog, Bruttu, Monstrollo and other preposterous leviathans.
Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com or on his website, http://captaincomics.ning.com.
The Omnibus, which collects the ongoing Secret History
series, begins in pre-history, where four kids (called "Archons," which
may be their tribal name) are given four runestone talismans of immense
magical power by a dying shaman. His one warning: Don't use them
together. Which the two boys, Dyo and Erlin, and two girls, Aker and
Reka, promptly do, in order to punish an invading tribe. That calls down
an asteroid, which wipes out just about everything in the vicinity,
including the invaders and their own tribe.Thanks to the talismans the kids are immortal, so instead of dying they simply separate. What follows is exactly what you'd expect: The four are significant players in the history we don't know behind the history we do know.
What surprised me, though, is that writer Jean-Pierre Pécau doesn't take the easy, predictable routes. For one thing, his four Archons are surprisingly petty and immature for immortals - almost as if they learn nothing from their long lives. Dyo is power-mad, Reka is paranoid and possibly insane, Erlin is cold-blooded and diffident, Aker is earthy and engaged. (And yes, I noticed that Aker and Reka are the same name reversed, and that Erlin is close to Merlin and Dyo similar to Deo, or "God" in Latin. What this means, if anything, I couldn't infer.)
Further, and more importantly, Pécau doesn't put his immortals exactly where I expect them to be, nor have them do what I expect them to do. I assumed each would have some major influence on the big turning points of history. But Pécau plays a more subtle game, placing his Archons mise en scène to history's turning points, in unexpected places.
We
do discover that the Archons are responsible for the parting of the Red
Sea in Genesis, the Grail myth, the Black Plague (to some degree) and
so forth. But elsewhere (elsewhen?) like the Crusades, the Napoleonic
Wars and World War I, their actions seem almost incidental - a secret
history simply occurring alongside major events, not causing them. All of which is fascinating, although at times I simply felt lost, despite being fairly well-versed in world history. I found myself wondering if there was any point to all these shenanigans. But I still kept turning the pages, looking for an elusive grail of my own, which says a lot about the story's strong premise and implacable grip on the imagination.
Further, let me praise the art. The bulk of it is by Igor Kordey, who has since made a name for himself at Marvel (Cable) and elsewhere. It is simply beautiful, and his research is impeccable. I can tell what era the story is in by clothing and architecture alone, which is a breathtaking feat - especially considering that the subtitle of the book is Volume One: From the Dawn of Time to World War I. That's a lot of research!
Elsewhere:
* My wife is a big fan of Sweet Tooth, a post-apocalyptic series from DC/Vertigo where most humans are dying from a mysterious plague, while human-animal hybrids are being born for equally mysterious reasons. Since the hybrids are immune to the plague, the remaining humans are desperate to dissect them and find what protects them.
Our
protagonist is the Sweet Tooth of the title, a boy with antlers who
loves candy bars (hence the nickname), and a tough former hockey player
who captures the boy for the bloodthirsty scientists, but suffers an
attack of conscience. Writer Jeff Lemire does an excellent job of
fleshing out the characters and their shabby world, although I do have
reservations about the art (also by Lemire), which is always sketchy and
often amateurish. Still, the story is strong enough to bring me back
each month, and allows me to recommend the first collection, Sweet Tooth: Out of the Deep Woods ($9.99).* I've mentioned before how much I'm enjoying Marvel's reprints of its "big monster" books from the 1950s, and Marvel Masterworks: Atlas Era Tales of Suspense Vol. 3 ($59.99) is no exception. With most of the stories by Stan Lee and most of the art by Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko and Don Heck, it's giddy fun by the top pros of the day about Oog, Bruttu, Monstrollo and other preposterous leviathans.
Contact Andrew A. Smith of the Memphis Commercial Appeal at capncomics@aol.com or on his website, http://captaincomics.ning.com.
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