"Conan Meets the Silver Surfer?" I was recently contacted by Gerald Cooper. As the co-owner of InVision Comics, Gerald was wondering if I might be interested in reviewing his new comic book, Genecy #1. He described Genecy as something “like Conan becoming the Silver Surfer after being a slave on Apokolips.” That really grabbed my attention, so I proceeded to give it a read.
Written by Gerald Cooper and illustrated by Eddy Barrows, with coloring by Tim Ogul & Oren Kramek, Genecy #1 is a taut blend of sword and sorcery and science fiction, with high level action that begins on the first page and never really lets up as we see the slave who will become Genecy escape from his captors even as those desperately woven plans go awry in the worst possible way. Despite little world history informing the reader about each characters motivation, there was enough "visually" to keep my attention, but my only real complaint here is that like too many modern publishers, dispensing with expository captions (which can alleviate a new readers confusion) left me wondering who and what some of the players were. Genecy does utilize captions, however they are given over to the lead characters unfolding dialogue. They would have been better served as background filler to help flesh out the history of the races & individuals within the book itself.
I'll let Gerald fill us in a bit more: "An extremely feared and militaristic nation, proudly recognized as the Grunnod, has stolen freedom, joy and fortune from an entire galaxy. They are in search of an ancient artifact from a long, forgotten time. It is believed to unlock a door to an immense and immeasurable power. Many scholars, and others believed to be immortal, have died of old age trying to exhume it. This relic is believed to be hidden deep within the innards of a Grunnodian possessed world. A broken soul seeks revenge for what the cruel Grunnodians have done to his people. He escapes. And when a tortured victim finds power and purpose, the shacklers that face him sing a sad song. "
That sounds cool, but much of that could have been made clearer in the first issue of a new series. That descriptive snippet was actually taken from Gerald's message to me. If it sounds like I'm nitpicking, then I apologize, but Genecy #1 is worth checking out. It has action-a-plenty, high end video game visuals and an interesting lead, who really does end up seeming like Conan crossed with Norrin Radd. Recommended!
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