Author: Si Spurrier
Artist: P.J. Holden
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Hardcover: 90 pages
Publisher: Titan Comics
ISBN-10: 1782760040
ISBN-13: 978-1782760047
Synopsis:
From the smash-hit writer behind X-Men Legacy! Dying young, a brilliant Mathematician discovers a way to cheat the terrifying Divine Calculator. He schemes to be endlessly reincarnated in the life of the woman he loves, no matter how often the violent bailiffs of the Karmic Accountancy cut short each life. It falls to one such Karmic agent – the surly Bastard Zane – to put a stop to the time-twisting romance once and for all, before the Mathematician can pull off his greatest trick and escape Existential Justice forever!
Trailer: Numbercruncher
I’ll admit that I haven’t read a whole lot of graphic novels. In fact, the majority of graphic novels I’ve read, I’ve reviewed on this site. I’ve probably even thought they were “good” or even “5 stars.” All that I’ve read in the past pale in comparison to Si Spurrier’s Numbercruncher. This graphic novel is the collection of his four Numbercruncher comics.
Actually, in honor of Numbercruncher, I would like to go back in time and take a lead pipe to all the “5 star” ratings that I handed out to other graphic novels, and maybe knock out some of the “4 stars” too. They don’t deserve to be anywhere near this book.
I’m a sucker for a good re-imagining of the afterlife, and the idea of some super nerd brainiac sitting behind a desk working all of creation in to the most complex of math problems is just so great and fresh. Even better is his legion of Karmic agents out in the world making sure things reconcile.
Bastard Zane is our main character, and he didn’t lead a very good life. He’s given a chance to find redemption in the afterlife by signing up for a job that resembles what we know as a reaper.
Zane is not only amazingly drawn to depict his enormity and brutality, but his sarcasm is so amazingly written. It leaps off the page in ways that I’ve never seen before. Sarcasm can be a little tricky to convey properly in writing so that the humor comes through, but this book completely nails it.
The story follows Zane as he tries to pin down a mathematician who, in death, attempts to outsmart the system in the name of love. It is brilliant, thoughtful, complex and an amazing work of artistic expression as well. A great collaborative work that I’m thrilled to have in my library.
I give Numbercruncher Five Out of Five Stars.
Numbercruncher is available for pre-order from Amazon! Here’s a link!
[AMAZONPRODUCT=1782760040]
