Welcome to the world of Vendor where your body parts are the most valuable thing you possess. Unfortunately its only once they’ve been removed that you can cash in. Today is a special day here at battlemouth.com so you dont get just one review of Vendor, but three! Find out what Mike, Steve, and Danny had to say about Viper Comic’s latest offering.
Mike
I sometimes get this awful feeling that we’ve run out of new and interesting stories to tell. This “Its all been done before” attitude will last for awhile until something comes out of left field and renews my faith in modern story telling. Luckily I can thank Vendor for doing this when I read it cover to cover the other day.
I’ll try to give you as much as I can without giving you much at all, because I would hate to spoil any of this story. The world has been plagued with an extremely fast spreading virus called the moss; someone infected with the moss must quickly amputate their infected body part in order to save themselves. This opens a whole new market to the world, body parts.
Vendor unfolds a grand story with enough twists and turns to keep you up reading till it is finished. Any initial doubts I had with how the story would work were quickly snubbed with in the first chapter. The story gives you enough meat so you’ll feel satisfied but still leaves the mystery going so you want a few more servings (pretty sweet dinner metaphor right?).
The art is nice, clean and full color which allows for great action sequences, and let me tell you there are some pretty insane action sequences. Its been a long time since I’ve praised a graphic novel this much, but vendor is deserving.
Steve
The graphic novel “Vendor” was created by Fairtrade Films and produced by Viper comics. Viper is known for finding new and unrefined talent and then turning these creators into some of the best comic artists on the web. With this process, they have a knack for finding new ideas that you have yet to encounter in sequential art. Vendor is probably the essence of what Viper comics stands for.
First off, I want to say that this comic does a lot of things right. Let us start with the premise of the story. I won’t get into any spoilers that you can’t find on the back of the cover, so fear not! This is an apocalyptic tale of the world ravaged by a killer disease that has wiped out a significant portion of the human race. Granted, this is not a new concept, but what will intrigue you is how the human race deals with this crisis and survives. This is the key to this story and the reason you will keep you turning pages. The world that has been created for this book is of the caliber that I have not seen in quite awhile. The story also has some great twists that you don’t see coming, which is quite rare these days.
There are a few pacing problems and story chokes. Once or twice I found myself looking back in the book asking, “when did they mention that?” Though, these do not deter from the greater story and once you reach the climax you will feel richer for the experience.
The art is a developing style. You can tell it improves from the beginning of this book to the end. This isn’t a bad thing. Nicc Balce did a great job in “Random Encounters” and this is a drastic departure from that style. You can see that he gets into a groove at points and comes out of it at others. This isn’t all that unusual in the comic world, especially when experimenting with a new style. For the most part it’s pretty consistent.
I don’t know the logistics of this novels release, but I almost wish it was being release split into issues. The cliff hangers at the end of each chapter gnaw at you so terribly that I count my blessings I was lucky enough to read the entire story in one sitting.
Vendor is set in an imaginative world with quirky and memorable characters. This is Fairtrade Films’ first venture as an intellectual property into the world of sequential art. If Vendor is Fairtrade Films’ first project, I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
Danny
So Mike asked me to weigh-in on this new graphic novel we got to see early… I don’t typically take the time to review comic books or graphic novels because I don’t buy many. Last series I bought was eternals, mainly because of the amazing illustration by Romita and the Stellar story by Neil Gaiman, one of my favorite writers, and a story arc that has repercussions on an entire comic universe we have yet to see unfold… Plainly you can see what it takes to get me to delve into anything printed and inked; Blankets was another great piece I admire considerably, and bought after turning three or four pages.
“Vendor,” is probably the best comic I’ve read since the Lightning Saga JSA arc. It’s seriously that good. And while the title of the book, unpaired at the moment with a cover to reveal its theme, is unappealing to say the least, by page three you know that you’re in for a unique experience. Body parts vendors? You haven’t seen this before.
And it doesn’t disappoint. Great illustration and engaging panel design are matched with a fantastic plot that will keep you engaged. Packed in for good measure are a surprise twisty ending that doesn’t leave you pulling your hair out, and a final action sequence of cells that I know you have never seen the likes of before.
We’re new to this whole pre-release, promotional stuff, and I am always wary of it, but “Vendor,” was more than worth my time, it’s worth my pocket spending money and shelf space. I’m sure it’s worth yours as well.
Mon, Jul 14, 2008
Comics