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CREED: UTOPIATE #1
Mildly Recommended (5/10)
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Image Comics
Writer/Letters: Christina Z.
Artist: Trent Kaniuga
Price: $2.95 US |
Creed seems to have a lot in common with the work of Sam Kieth, particularly The Maxx, as it features a separate reality and a protagonist who lives there part of the time. There are also elements of young boys' adventure fiction, with the protagonist serving as sort of the "chosen one" and protector of this realm. As I read Creed, however, I couldn't help feeling that I was
missing crucial elements of the story, despite exposition from Mark's narration,
which seems a shame from a first issue. In addition, though I'm intrigued by the
notion of a school reality co-existing with a dream reality, the school reality
seemed a bit freakish and unrealistic, as much as the dream reality did.
Mark sees the world
differently, and that is expressed quite well in both the narration and the
artwork from Kaniuga. There's a subdued color palette and a scratchy tone to the
work that gives the book a distinctive and somewhat "dirty" look. I'm not sure
if it's simply this iteration of the character or a running theme, but there's a
sense of pervasive darkness in Mark's life, whether it's trouble in school or
trouble in his dream realm, and the darkness of the colors helps to bring that
across.
Kaniuga's imagination is
quite clear in the visions of the dreamworld, with the Dirt King, the
frog/dragon C.J. and the army of wasps, and I there's definitely something
alluring about the dreamworld, even given the dangerous elements therein. I'm
greatly enjoying the idea that Mark's adolescence is making his dreamworld more
tumultuous and the creators put in more than a few elements that point out how
raging hormones might be causing this darkness, with Mark walking in on a sex
education class or the sexy and seductive Lori at the end.
However, while I love the
look and feel of the book in general, in specific I'm a bit lost. How and why
Mark became the protector of this realm, and indeed what the Creed is meant to
mean, doesn't really connect with me at any point in this issue. For that
matter, there's a little aside with Internet chat that explains why the
"Utopiate" is part of the title, but doesn't get anywhere in explaining what the
Utopiate might be or how it's related to Mark. In some ways, this is a wait and
see element, but I didn't find myself intrigued by the tidbits we were given...
just further confused.
In addition, while I enjoyed
the strange and unusual dreamworld aspects of the book, the high school aspects
seemed equally nightmarish and unrealistic. The bullies and their cruelty are
believable, but Christina Z. pushes the counselor's attitude a bit too far, as I
can't imagine any school were that kind of counselor wouldn't have been
subjected to lawsuits and disciplinary action for off-the-cuff remarks like
"Just remember, I could snap your neck in a second."
Since I had no idea what Creed was, and I had kind of imagined it might be a dark super-hero book along the lines of Spawn just from the title, I was quite pleased to discover that it is instead a fantasy/adventure series. Unfortunately, while Creed: Utopiate might be another fascinating chapter in the overall Creed story for
regular readers, it doesn't really seem too welcoming to new readers.
This
comic book was not part of this week's new releases.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review, or discuss it on the Fourth Rail message board. |
