Author: Jack Katz
Hardcover: 208 pages
Publisher: Titan Comics
ISBN-10: 1782760105
ISBN-13: 978-1782760108
Synopsis:
A title that is first in a series of Homeric, post-apocalyptic graphic novels, following the vein of a futuristic, post-civilization The Odyssey or The Iliad. Jack Katz is a writer, artist and teacher whose career in comics spans eight decades. He has worked along such comics legends as Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Will Eisner, and his work remains influential to this day.
We throw around words like “epic” and “awesome” in everyday life and nine times out of ten we’re diminishing the words. Those words were created to describe a book like The First Kingdom: The Birth of Tundran, a collection of comics by Jack Katz. This is the first of three volumes. It contains books 1-6 of the saga.
As a self-proclaimed comic book noob, it was as difficult for me to read as it was awesome and epic. The world is vast, the characters are numerous, and the drawings are so very detailed that it takes ages to get through a page. Do not read this as a negative thing, just know that this is not a book that will easily be devoured in one sitting. In fact, that would be completely impossible.
The story is so detailed that the main character for all three of The First Kingdom books isn’t even born until book five of the first volume. Every page is covered from from margin to margin with black and white drawings of a post-apocalyptic world filled with hunters, monsters and gods. It’s overwhelming in its scope.
As a side note that many of you will find unimportant, being a mother of preschoolers I find it necessary to mention that since the plot revolves around post-apocalyptic cave men and women, the ladies are featured on most every page topless. While I completely understand how it’s relevant to the time, it’s not a book I’ll leave lying around for the kids to pick up.
I think it’s a great start to what has already been acclaimed as an amazing saga. It’s not for everyone in its depth, but people who are already into comics will surely find this an important addition to their collection.
I give The First Kingdom: The Birth of Tundran Four Out of Five Stars.
The First Kingdom: The Birth of Tundran is available from Amazon. Here’s a link!
[AMAZONPRODUCT=1782760105]
