A group of chums fooling around on the internet of yore stumble across a level of cyberspace under the regular internet which they imaginatively call: the Undernet. But what’s that they find inhabiting that jolly space? Oogie-boogies! So, after documenting the nasties on a forum called Worldtree (I’m not doing the silly spelling), they somehow seal it away from the rest of the internet. But oh no, 20 years later and it’s back somehow! Did anyone say cyberpunk-flavoured IT? Well, that’s what you got regardless.
I think James Tynion IV’s latest horror outing has more potential than most of his very ordinary comics, but I still found the first volume quite lacking. There’s a mysterious naked tattooed lady offing people from the start and she does this for most of the book with zero effort or resistance. The main cast of characters don’t really do anything besides remind you that they used to be friends. A couple of government agent-types pop up and wave. All of that repeats throughout and that’s about it.
I get that first volumes tend to be about table-setting, and this book does some of that - but oddly not enough. Like, I would’ve liked to have known more about the stuff we’re meant to be afeared of. Could we have more on what the Undernet is? Or what’s possessing people into doing bad things (not to mention how)? Or what the gang did when they were teens? Or what are the things they need to do to stop the bad things? And how does one say “PH34R”?
I’m not saying I need to know everything right off the bat - I understand that this is the first book in a series and we’ll gradually get this info later on (probably) - but a taste of something more from any of the above to make this first book more substantial would’ve vastly improved the reading experience and made me anticipate the next book more.
As it is, it just feels like horror tropes - possession/exorcism - with a Matrix-y veneer; kinda derivative and shallow, not least as it takes the premise of Stephen King’s IT and only slightly twists it for the digital age. There’s even a Days of Future Past-type flashforward!
Still, it’s not a wholly boring book. The scenes where the naked lady shows up are entertaining as she’s basically a hot naked Joker, spreading chaos wherever she is, and Fernando Blanco’s art is brilliant, especially the glimpses we get of the Undernet.
While I found this one underwritten in key plot elements and overwritten in others (typical of Tynion’s writing, his characters all enjoy a good long waffle about nothing), but there’s enough presented in this first volume to make me curious to see what happens in the next book. Worldtree, Volume 1: Terminal is an ultimately weak book that has the makings of a possibly-strong series - watch this (cyber)space!
Your reviews are so consistently negative that it's hard to take much if any of your criticism seriously. It's your blog and you can do whatever you want with it. But comics aren't easy to make and skimming through your blog, you frequently tear apart the work into which creators are putting in a lot of effort. I recommend you try making a comic and send it around to reviewers to see how it feels to receive this sort of negativity yourself. Also, you've written a review about a visual medium and only mention the art in half a sentence? And no mention of Jordie Bellaire's incredible colors? Maybe try focusing on things you actually enjoy because you clearly don't like most of the comics you review.
ReplyDelete