Flashback Friday: Halcyon

I've read a lot of comics in my life, clearly. There are ones that I found amazing, books I found terrible, as well as comics  that I immediately forgot and others that stuck with me. One comic I found really enjoyable and which also stuck with me would be, "Halcyon." A mini-series that went five issues and was originally announced under the name, "Utopia," before a title-change, It seems to barely be remembered online, although I can find some other reviewers who liked it.

Written by Marc Guggenheim and Tara Butters, the general concept in the comic is one that I find extremely clever in that all the anger and violence in the world among humans has been decreasing over the year to the point where nobody wants to commit a violent crime, fight over religion, or go to war about resources. It is obvious that this isn't normal, but people figure it is okay, because what's so bad about World peace? The Batman-esque hero Sabre feels this is all horribly wrong though, and later in the comic discovers that the big-time super-villain, Oculus, actually created a device that has been beaming out a signal of sorts that makes everyone peaceful/non-violent. Basically, he figured the most evil thing he could arguably do to the heroes was make them unnecessary in a happy and wonderful world--basically doing something that makes him the hero.

Sabre confronts Oculus

However, once the truth is realized Sabre goes and tries to destroy the device, with everyone discovering the closer you get to the beam/transmitted the less it affects you. Hence, plenty of violence occurs and Sabre basically becomes the villain in his wanting to make the world a miserable place again because he claims people deserve free will...but maybe he just hates being made obsolete in a land of joy and peace.

Ryan Bodenheim provides artwork that is very clean, precise, and works wonderfully for this comic at showing these incredible powered beings coming to terms with the fact they are now obsolete. Bodenheim's artwork has a nice formal look but he can break-out some stellar imagery at times, such as in the fifth and final issue when Sabre releases an energy blast that rips a former colleague apart. After some relatively restrained artwork it is a shockingly graphic and grotesquely gorgeous image. Observe:

"Halcyon," was a book that really struck me when I first read it upon its being released back in late 2010 through early 2011 and when I was rooting through all my comics to identify ones to sell I made sure to put it aside and re-read it, having recalled that I found it quite well-written and full of great artwork. I would recommend people seek it out if they like super-heroic stories with a dash of philosophy that explores that question of just what happens when the heroes, "Win," by having violence end, but in order to truly win in this case they have to let themselves lose, in a sense. It's great stuff.

Rant-Reviews--Irredeemable And The Conlcusion Of Abyss and Halycon

This edition of Rant-Reviews is all about the independent comics, at least independent in the sense that they aren't Marvel or DC--all of these are still about heroes, actually. Anyways, Irredeemable #26 impresses, Abyss #4 ends its arc nicely, and Halcyon #5 has a surprisingly disappointing ending.

My Comic Book Haul, June 1st, 2011

It's that time again, where I look over my comic haul for the week because I randomly thought this was a good week to comment on the books I picked up ahead of time before I review them. Let's get into it...

Rant-Reviews--The Least Alike Comics Ever OR Halcyon #4, Tarot #67, and Action Comics #899.

Halcyon #4, Tarot #67, and Action Comics #899. Three different comics with three different publishers, three different tones, and three different quality-levels. Time to examine who rocks and who...um...socks.

The Newest Rant Podcast Episode 2--Starting To Figure This Out.

My second-ever Podcast show--downloadable here--where I start to figure things out and develop a basic show format. First I discuss some of the latest news in comic-dom (which isn't necessarily tagged in labels due to getting just a brief mention) then say some extended reviews of comics I have discussed or am going to discuss on my blog, namely:

• Venom #1
• Incognito: Bad Influences #1
• Halcyon #4
• Tarot #67
• Black Panther #516

With a weird assortment like that you know I'm going to have a thing or two to say...

Podcast Powered By Podbean

Oh, and for those who like when I talk about things besides comics, don't worry. I will do Podcasts where I talk about a book I read, movie I saw, or television show I watched sometime too in the future.

Rant-Reviews--Bored, Dying, Devilish, and Hyper-Violent Heroes.

Reviews of Halcyon, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Superior, and because he pops up everywhere, Wolverine.

I'm happy, my comic haul was good this week.

Just thought I'd share how I'm pleased with the comic items I got this week. Why was it a good pull? Let's list what gets me excited of what I got and how it looks promising, with some possible reviews to come from a few of these...

This comic looks promising: Halcyon #1 and #2.

Halcyon #1 and #2
This is an odd comic. I couldn't quite figure out the premise from the first issue but after reading the second I think I'm beginning to understand. One hero got tired of all the crime in the world and used her mind powers to somehow change everyone into less-violent individuals. This results in a world where most heroes aren't really needed. So, we get to see heroes standing around going, "well this is odd," while meanwhile their arch-nemesis has surrendered himself to the authorities and is now doing good--for mysterious reasons if his discussion with his assistant and an alternate-reality version of himself are anything to go by. On a side-note, one clever thing this comic does is that when people are speaking in a foreign language the letter-characters are stretched out and shaped all bizarrely, but are actually still in English. It's a clever effect.

It's actually English words in a foreign-looking typeset. Genius!

The art is also solid, although Sabre's design seems like a rip-off of Midnighter from Planetary/the Authority--and he was an intentional rip-off of Batman, so Sabre is a rip-off of an homage? The other heroes are bit cliche too; we have the fast-running guy, the Superman-analogue with the only twist being its a female, and a super-smart ape....which is admittedly a bit creative as the only other smart apes I know of are Gorilla Grodd in the comics and those real-life ones scientists train in sign-language. The heroes aren't really the point of the comic though, the idea is what happens when there is no more crime and the most evil man in the world turns good? I'm not quite sure where this will be going, but it looks promising.
3.5 out of 5 stars.