I have just finished reading what could possible be one of the best comics in my life. Aside from Battlechasers, this one really is at the top.
I am reffering to a comic book by the name of Steampunk, by Chris Bachalo and Joe Kelly. I've read the two existing trade-paperbacks, about 320 pages total, and I am freaking amazed. The art, the story, the characters, the settings. Everything is amazingly cool, original and detailed. The characters are absolutely out of this world. A brief breakdown is as follows.
Cole Blaquesmith: The hero of the story, he's an ex-fisherman with a giant metal arm and a furnace for a heart. He's been asleep (or something) in a coffin, buried for a hundred years. When he wakes up, he finds the world in chaos, due partly to a man he helped a hundred years ago. This man was Absinthe, who Cole helped in order to save his love, Fiona, and inadvertently caused Absinthe to gain the means for conquering Europe.
Absinthe: A madman. A very, very powerful and brilliant madman. He basically introduced technology to the 18th century, and thus took over Europe. London is both a mechanical wonderland and a steampunk hell due to his work. A truly original character, both his look and his speech portray a deranged scientist who loves power and knowledge above all else. Not your classical "mad scientist" he's got this wierd humour thing going on, you've just got to read the comic...
Revolutionaries: A whole bunch of characters, too many to name here. Basically, most of these guys are "underdwellers" the lowest class in London. Some of them have been expermineted on in Absinthe's labs, and now have animal parts instead of normal limbs. Their basic goal is to overthrow Absinthe, and they see Cole as their saviour. A few characters here appear at times both on the revolutionary roster as well as on Absithe's roster.
Others: These include Absnithe's henchmen, such as Faust (creepy skeleton demon guy), Medik (wierd little surgeon dude) and three augmented chicks who serve both as Absinthe's elite agents, aswell as his "attendents".
All I can say is, if you want great story, great art and just an overall awesome experience, be sure to check this comic book out.
Here are some pictures:
Absinthe makes an entranceWestminster Abbey, circa 1830 Absinthe being his usual crazy self Victoria firing a big gun What once was Stongehenge Cole is knocked out, and remembering his former life I'll post some more later, especially of Cole.
Oh and, I should mention that I am currently wearing my "Get Steampunk using BitTorrent, ask me how" button, so...yeah
