Lexian Chronicles
It is not often that I make a foray into buying independent books, which I know little or nothing about. As those of you who have followed my postings on this blog know, the indy books I have discussed here have garnered a plethora of excellent reviews prior to my considering them. Examples of this are “Cerebus” by Dave Sim and “Blankets” by Craig Thompson. With “Lexian Chronicles” I picked something I had known close to nothing about. I had heard the name dropped by Chuck Satterlee during his interview on Comic Geek Speak, and saw the trade had an attractive cover, but other than that I was heading into uncharted territory!
So what was the result? “Lexian Chronicles” was alright. The interior artwork was not really my taste and I found the storytelling to not be particularly gripping. I don’t regret buying the book, since it was a decent experience. however.
The artwork is done by Inaki Miranda. On the whole the artwork is kind of Mr. Miranda’s riff on anime style (Note: I’m assuming by a review I read that Inaki Miranda is male, if I’m incorrect, I apologize). Reena has large eyes and many of the male characters have the large boots which is typical of the style. Unfortunately some of the male characters have really bizarre looking hairstyles. The worst offender is probably Reena’s father, whose hair is slicked back horizontally in a gravity-defying style. With all the conquering and fighting he does, it is impressive he finds the time to put enough product in his hair to shape his hair so it flows horizontally from the back of his head. Also, many of the male characters are burly enough to make any Olympic lifter look like a pipsqueak. Their heights vary from six foot six to 7 feet tall. I’m not really trying to nitpick Miranda’s artwork, but all the strange proportions and hairstyles serve only to pull me out the book. They are very distracting. I understand that the men in “The Lexian Chronicles” are supposed to be big and intimidating, but they don’t all have to look like the Hulk, do they?
Now, it should be mentioned that “Lexian Chronicles” the comic book is based on a novel by Harry Gallan. The person handling the adaptation is Chris Bunting. I have never read the novel, so I do not who is to blame for the rather uneventful and plodding story in “The Lexian Chronicles.” The trade entitled “Full Circle” collects the first five issues of the series. After reading all five issues I cannot but help feel that nothing really happened. It was mostly large chunks of exposition and flashbacks which merely set the stage for the events yet to come. Five Issues of setting the stage! Come on. Now, maybe I’ve been reading a little too much silver age one and done issues, but I do not think it unreasonable for something to happen in that much time.
The book opens with the skinny, blond heroine, Reena, being teased by some of the other children and then quickly flashes back to when she was a baby. Her father, Koss, and her mother, carrying baby Reena, are walking through the woods when they are ambushed by the Vulture tribe (the only short male characters in the book). Koss is quickly incapacitated and his wife is murdered. Before their assailants can do anything else, Samm of the Lion tribe, saves Koss and baby Reena. Vowing revenge, Koss begins to conquer all the neighboring tribes, with Samm’s help, and unite them all under his rule. The land is then at peace until the return of the vicious Leopard tribe.
The biggest issue I had was that I was not sure I really empathized with Koss. While yes it is terrible to have one’s wife murdered, does it really justify making war with tribe after tribe and creating countless refugees, who are exiled from the land? It seems to me that Koss’s problems with the return of the Leopard tribe are self-inflicted. If he had tried to make a little more like a peacemaker and less like Napoleon, then maybe his tribe would have more friends than enemies. Reena and many others in the tribe seem to be paying for Koss’s past mistakes.
“The Lexian Chronicles” was only $9.75 through Instock Trades. At that price, it was worth it. While it is not as good as any many of the comics I have been reading recently, it is a decent bargain priced book. Check it out, if it sounds interesting.
