AICN COMICS: SCION Reviewed!!

Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.

Okay... I've got two big updates for you today, part of our big weekend sized update at AICN COMICS. First up is this review of a CrossGens project called SCION:

"They sign everyone to these damn exclusive contracts!"
"Their books are all too bright and too juvenile!"
"Mark Alessi is a lunatic!"
"They all live like a cult down there in Florida!"

If you're like anyone other fan of comic books, these are probably some of the things you've heard about CrossGen Comics over the nearly two years since their gestation. But if you're a loyalist to The Big Two or a comics snob or just someone who's afraid to try new things, maybe that's all you know. Maybe you've never actually tried one of their comics, but rather, formed your opinions off of internet scuttlebutt, odd news stories, and resentment over beloved creators leaving beloved books to sign exclusive deals with CrossGen. Well, I think that's a pretty apt description of the way I've thought about them. After all, I've been reading comics for years, and somehow, books about fantasy and/or sorcery seemed, I don't know, beneath me. I mean, I never even read Conan, so why try these untested properties when I could spend my money on familiar titles? Yeah, it was pure snobbery. And not even entirely honest-after all, I did read some fantasy titles back in the day, and some of them were pure hokum--Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld and Crystar, Crystal Warrior, among others. So it was time to check things out at CrossGen and see what the company was all about.

CrossGen had quietly, or maybe not-so-quietly, built a little niche for themselves the past year or so. Their display at last year's San Diego Comic Con was impressive and constantly crowded. "Big" name creators like George Perez and Mark Waid had signed on. So there must be something to it all. To check things out, I started with one of their primary titles, Scion. Written by Ron Marz and featuring impressive art by Jim Cheung, it seemed as good a place as any to get a feel for just what the company had to offer.

The Story
Scion appears to be a straight-forward sword and sorcery adventure title, but with a difference-as much as the book takes place on a medieval world where battles are still fought with swords, it's also a world that has seen technological advancement. So you're just as likely to see warriors wearing chain mail and drinking mead as you are to see a dragon equipped with an on-board computer. The technological elements are minimized, but they give the book an added dimension over the 'typical' fantasy book (whatever that is).

Scion is the story of Prince Ethan, a young and impetuous character (much like many of CrossGen's characters, and hopefully a large chunk of their readers, too). His family, the Heron Dynasty, rules the West, while the Raven Dynasty rules the East. 'Twould seem that, upon a prince's 21st birthday, he is to the heir to the other dynasty in ritual combat. The two dynasties co-exist peacefully enough, but neither harbors any affection for the other. In fact, you get the feeling that it won't take much to renew old aggressions against each other. Ethan, who'd just as soon chase women as face his destiny, gets touched on the arm by a stranger right before his bout. He feels a little odd after, but, his servant, Skink (one of the "lesser races", a genetically engineered slave race that is kept in thrall by both kingdoms) tells him to pay it no mind and to concentrate on the battle.

During the battle with Prince Bron of the Raven Dynasty, the new mark on Ethan's arm starts glowing and gives his sword such power that a large cut he makes on Bron's face will not heal. Technology in their lands is such that a normal cut would have been healed right away, but not this one.

Since this wound won't heal, leaving Bron with a nasty scar across one eye and down the side of his face, the Raven Dynasty seeks retribution. Rather than risk war between the clans, Ethan agrees to serve a year in the Raven dungeons. His loyal servant Skink petitions to serve the time with him, and this request is granted.

At the Raven's castle-keep, Bron seeks his revenge on Ethan and slices his face open, and leaves him in the dirt. Bron leaves and returns later to gloat to find…an empty cell. It seems Ethan has been spirited away by a beautiful woman who calls herself Ashleigh. And even more, his face has miraculously healed.

Ashleigh leads Ethan to a pit where the lesser races are treated horribly. Ethan follows, still not sure who she is, or how his face was healed, or even what the mark on his arm is. After surviving another capture by Bron and his men, Ashleigh explains to Ethan that she seeks his help to liberate the slaves. She's been working with the lesser races' underground, an effort that seeks to spare these people from the inhumane treatment they face. Ethan refuses, opting instead to be loyal to his family and his kingdom, and return to them. Ashleigh stays behind.

Ethan soon runs afoul of a bounty hunter named Exeter, who says he's being paid by Bron's men to bring Ethan to him. His servant, Skink, helps save him and they again escape. Heading home, Ethan sees that his escape from the cell has led to war-the Raven fleet is invading his homeland. He runs into, and escapes from, Exeter again, and they commandeer a boat from the Raven fleet. Adrift on the sea, the boat gets caught in the middle of a storm that makes the movie Perfect Storm look like a splash in a puddle. After this summary, I'll spend more time getting into the actual art that illustrates this huge storm, as well as Jim Cheung's pencils on the entire run.

Ethan and Skink almost drown, but are saved by water-breathing amphibious creatures. Ethan gets a look at an underwater city, but then wakes up on the shore, along with Skink. Returning home to his family, he soon learns that war is indeed breaking out. He joins the battle, as does Bron on the other side. In fact, Bron then gets the better of and brutally kills someone very close to Ethan. Ashleigh appears again on the battlefield, but disappears again. As the kingdom regroups from this battle, Ethan's father, the king, brings in an advisor named Bernd Rechts to help with the war planning. Bernd touches the sigil on Ethan's arm and is knocked unconscious by an unknown burst of energy from it.

Ethan leaves the castle to go avenge the death, even as Bron steps up his efforts to find Ethan. And Ashleigh returns, and her connection to the Raven dynasty is revealed. For the purposes of brevity, I won't detail much more of the story-the aforementioned details are all found in the first Scion TPB. All of that, and I left out a lot, and we're barely 8 issues in.

From here, Bron also brings in an advisor, by the name of Mai Shen, who seems to be more than she first appears (and she is, as is revealed later). The bounty hunter Exeter reappears, but isn't the cut-and-dried villain he first appeared to be. Meanwhile, Mai Lin passes on power to Bron, which makes him nearly the equal of Ethan, powered as he is by the unexplained sigil. The sigil turns out to be even more powerful than it first seemed, which is fortunate after the outcome of Bron and Ethan's next battle. Exeter's motivation is soon revealed, and he joins Ethan and Ashleigh on their return to the underground. Ethan sees some horrific things that convince him he should be helping Ashleigh and the lesser races rather than fighting the war against the Raven dynasty.

Other major developments happen-Bron frames Ashleigh for a major death; Mai Lin and Bernd Rechts reveal their true nature, and battle to the death…or do they? Meanwhile, Bron grows more powerful, and more insane, as the war continues.

Initial Perception
What I just discussed, and believe it or not that was brief, was the first twenty issues of Scion. As you can see, Ron Marz has laid out quite an elaborate storyline. And while there have been some issues that feel more self-contained than others, it's all been part of one long, on-going storyline. My initial impression is that it's basically a story I've read before. Many of the elements contained within have been repeated throughout fiction, from novels to movies to especially comics. There's a pretty clear good versus evil story here. But Marz has added more layers to it than just that. There's the question of duty versus doing what's right; Ethan's family also uses the lesser races as slaves, yet they're not treated as poorly as they are by the Ravens. Still, does that make it right? And there's also the blooming romance between Ethan and Ashleigh, a romance that should be forbidden by the situation around them.

Okay, I don't mean to make too much of this. And when I say the book has familiar elements, that's a compliment as well as a detriment. However, for a book that seems as predictable as it so far has been, it's also been a helluva lot more fun than I ever expected it to be. Yes, many of the developments in the book are predictable, and a bit pedestrian for this sort of story, but that really hasn't lessened the enjoyment of the book for me, either. I do recommend reading the first storyline in trade form. I'm not sure just an issue or two would have held my interest enough to keep coming back right away, but that may speak to my short attention span as much as it does to the work itself.

I am still puzzled why, 20 issues in, Ethan has just accepted this powerful sigil on his arm without looking at it too closely. I mean, a stranger grants him this power that has healed his wounds and saved his life and given him great ability, and beyond the occasional question, he never really wonders too much about it. Is this just impetuousness of youth? Too active a life to have time to look closer at this? The fault of the writer? Or possibly part of the grander CrossGen scheme, when all will be revealed, and more closely linked, when they're damn good and ready? We shall see.

The Art
When I say I'm not sure I'd have come back after just an issue or two, I'm not giving the art enough due. I rarely buy books for art alone-without a good story, a well-drawn book is just that, a passing interest with no real weight to it. However, this book features art by Jim Cheung that's worth the price of admission alone. Cheung, an X-book expatriate, has a style that blends elements of Joe Madureira and Chris Bachalo with a style that's also uniquely Cheung's. Jim's style features a plethora of large panels and tight face shots, but when he needs to, he can really cut loose and give with an impressive scene of a castle, a battle or just the wild countryside and the animals within. His art is really impressive, capturing your attention from the first page. His use of panel structure is dynamic, using angles and panels slightly askew of the way many others might do it. In fact, his battle scenes and action sequences really convey movement, and can be, at times, breathtaking.

I don't know that CrossGen employs a "house" style to their art-I haven't seen enough of the other titles to say one way or the other, but even the occasion fill-in issues by Andrea Di Vito don't lose of their impact. I believe Di Vito is now doing a title with Mark Waid, so I'm not sure if he's still available to pinch-hit on this title if needed, but hopefully he is. The quality doesn't drop a bit when Cheung takes an issue off.

A concern that I always had when I glanced at all of these titles, and a fear I've heard others express, is the use of too-bright colors on all the titles. Now, I think a bit of this fear is caused just because the company logo itself is a bright orange and yellow. When reading the actual books…I'd say the glossy paper makes any color applied to it a bit more vibrant. But…too bright? No. The yellows burn like the sun, and the oranges radiate heat, but at the same time, the grays, blues and greens are likewise deep and rich and move across the page. When fog appears on the battlefield, it's almost palpable.

Okay, I realize I'm making these books sound like the best comics in the world. Which they're not. But what they are, is a lot of fun. I feel like the books are geared toward people Ethan's age and maybe a bit younger. And if I'd been reading this title as a 17-year old, it just may have shot right to the top of my list. Bits of the story are too simplistic in places, but then again, for a fantasy adventure series, it delivers a helluva lot of action with heroes, villains, battles, great beasts and beautiful women (okay, beautiful people--another complaint/observation is that every single inhabitant of this planet seems to be good-looking and huge-breasted). Which is really all a series like this should offer.

I had initial trepidation that each book might also be too linked with the "sigil" concept-yeah, I had a lot of worries for a guy who'd never even read a title before-but that's not the case, either. I gather that reading all the titles would probably give a greater understanding of what the sigil concept is all about, and how it connects to other titles. But nothing at all is lost in just reading a single title such as this, either.

The Extras
You know what else CrossGen does well? They make their readers/fans really feel like a part of something. And they give you the most they can to make your $2.95 feel like a bargain. First, all the books are printed on nice, glossy paper that holds the colors well and really treats the art like it should be treated. Each inside cover features a long synopsis and roll call to help get people up to date. Yeah, I remember, and lament, when Marvel also offered such a thing. But CrossGen's been doing it from the start.

Also, the books are pretty ad-free. Actually, this worries me, as I hope the books are doing okay enough to sustain the company. At the end of the month's story, then and only then do a few ads, for other CrossGen books, run. Followed by a letter's page, and then an editorial page. Everything about this title really makes you feel like a part of something.

If you're like me, and stayed far away from this upstart company, it might be time to lighten up a bit and check a title out. Any current issue features enough recap to get you up to speed. But if you really want to see how it all got started, pick up the first Scion trade paperback (the second is just out now). It starts with a nice Adam Hughes cover, and proceeds from there. It doesn't contain a ton of extras, but it has subtle bonus material that really enhances the read. After Mark Alessi's initial introduction, each chapter (the book includes the first seven issues of Scion, as well as a short debut story from the original CrossGen Chronicles and an "issue 1.5" story) begins with a different essay by one of the creators, explaining more about their approach to the title. And at the end, you get to see Jim Cheung's first seven excellent, and title-free, covers.

All in all, Scion was a lot of fun, and it reminded me why I got into reading comics as a child-high adventure coupled with interesting characters and clever scenarios, heroes and villains with elements of the fantastic around them, and intriguing , action-packed stories illustrated by amazing art. Yeah, I'll go on admit that I judged things at CrossGen too harshly. The creators, and the publisher, really get their love of the medium across with each and every issue I've read. Give one a shot, and see if the kid inside you doesn't feel the same way.

Chris Ryall