Remember Dungeons & Dragons? Not the role-playing game but the 1980s cartoon to which the game gave rise? It featured a group of six teens who played the game and is transported to a Middle Earth-like realm. There, they're directed by a Yoda-esque Dungeon Master on quests and adventures, surviving thanks to the magical weapons and items they've been given. That's what Otherworld is shaping up to be, except the "heroes" aren't gamers, they're college students and they have sex. Creator Phil Jimenez has tried to dress up that fairly simple plot in a more realistic youth culture and a disconnected, cosmic tone that fosters confusion instead of awe and mystery. There are two main creative decisions that hold this book back. Most of the characters here aren't terribly likeable, for starters. And secondly, while Jimenez's uber-detailed artwork is often pretty, he would have been well advised to heed the old adage that sometimes, less is more.
Siobhan Moynihan has it all. She's got a scholarship to the Universit of Los Angeles and a growing following for her band, in which she plays with a bunch of her friends. She's got a rich and intelligent boyfriend, but she's getting ready to end it for a more rewarding relationship. She's got beauty and brains, friends and a promising future. She's also feeling a little off these days, and she's feeling particularly oogey when a sorceress from another dimension comes to recruit her help and that of her friends in staving off a magical apocalypse.
Jimenez's work for the Otherworld scenes is meticulously detailed, just like that of George Perez, the artist whose work he emulates. The problem is that the detail is overwhelming. It's difficult to focus on key elements, and the artist is too successful in distinguishing that world of magic and science-fiction as being alien from our own. His art is far stronger -- because it's usually far less busy -- for the grounded, L.A. scenes. His character designs among the regular folks are solid. Everyone boasts his or her own distinct look, and not every character is impossibly attractive.
Jimenez tries to make the magical plotline seem far more intricate than it really is. An unseen enemy is wreaking havoc on the good guys, and they seek out saviors from the beyond, which just happens to be La-La-Land. There's a hint of a traitor in there as well. Though it's a bit generic, I don't have that big of a problem with it. My qualms focus on the presentation. Jimenez really makes the reader harder than necessary to piece together what's going on, and it's just not all that much fun.
I liked the intellectual sparring between lovers here, and the friendships that are explored here are pretty strong, for the most part. But Siobhan, Donnie and Jason -- the three most prominent characters among the earthly cast -- really aren't nice people at all. Siobhan's too much of a coward to end a relationship she doesn't want anymore. Jason's something of a bully, and Donnie's a cad who places more emphasis on sex than friendship. These are our heroes? Character flaws are important to breathe life into a drama's players, but these characters seem to be nothing but flaws. 5/10
