Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
I requested "Carthago" from the library, and this is the book they found in the New Jersey library system - it's the second book in a series. So I haven't read the first part of Carthago, but I did enjoy this one a fair bit. It's got your basic conspiracy riff of the rich, self-centered, questionable-agenda old guy, the rugged, reliable adventurer, and the smart, determined young heroine - the characters are solid, but stock, but Bec and his collaborators do a nice job exploring the world of Carthago. It's the mysterious underwater world and the omnipresent megalodons that entice the reader. Also, three of five chapters are essentially an underwater rescue sequence, so there is a lot of room given to the challenges faced and the personal cost of survival. It's not an essential book, but it's a solid one. Oh, and the art's quite nice.
This is a review for Carthago 1-10. I am yet to read Carthago Short Stories hence my review is solely on Carthago Origins 1-10.
Carthago 1-5 issues were blast to read. The story managed me to hook me quite well and the characters were interesting as well as intriguing. I wanted to know more about them. The only thing I did not like was jumping between multiple places without it having a chance to develop and introduction of too many characters. I am told that is the way generally comics are written but I did not enjoy it. It felt as though there were multiple lose ends.
Carthago 6-10 issues were the most disappointing issues to read. The litany of complaints I have can go on and on. The format followed that of 1-5 but somehow it did not feel like it fit in these issues since characters were already established. There was no reason or rhyme to jump to 18th C colonial times when main plot was already underway. And this is just one example. Jumping from place to place did not stop until the very end.
The relationship between the characters which felt promising in the beginning just started to break at the seams. The main character of Kim all of a sudden felt to be the most irrational person ever when in fact throughout 1-5 she was a voice of reason. There were multiple personality changes like these for no apparent reason. Characters which had not appeared for 3-4 issues came back with full force without a solid reason, similarly certain characters vanished without any explanation.
Dialogues also felt out of place. At 1 instance, a building is on fire and police are stopping everyone approaching the building but when character says thats my house and my son is inside, police just calmly tell him "then its ok, you can go on". WHAT? The building is on fire and you let a civilian go inside? It just did not make any sense.
My biggest gripe is with how ending was handled. During life and death situations, characters are discussing relationships and other mundane stuff which felt jarring to read. Since early issue, Lou was established as an important character but the way her character arc played out was utterly disappointing.
All in all, according to me, the whole series needed strong editing. It had immense potential, the art, the illustrations are mind blowing. I can take each cover and make a poster of it. It is just that beautiful but handling of the story ruined it all.
Carthago 1-5 issues were blast to read. The story managed me to hook me quite well and the characters were interesting as well as intriguing. I wanted to know more about them. The only thing I did not like was jumping between multiple places without it having a chance to develop and introduction of too many characters. I am told that is the way generally comics are written but I did not enjoy it. It felt as though there were multiple lose ends.
Carthago 6-10 issues were the most disappointing issues to read. The litany of complaints I have can go on and on. The format followed that of 1-5 but somehow it did not feel like it fit in these issues since characters were already established. There was no reason or rhyme to jump to 18th C colonial times when main plot was already underway. And this is just one example. Jumping from place to place did not stop until the very end.
The relationship between the characters which felt promising in the beginning just started to break at the seams. The main character of Kim all of a sudden felt to be the most irrational person ever when in fact throughout 1-5 she was a voice of reason. There were multiple personality changes like these for no apparent reason. Characters which had not appeared for 3-4 issues came back with full force without a solid reason, similarly certain characters vanished without any explanation.
Dialogues also felt out of place. At 1 instance, a building is on fire and police are stopping everyone approaching the building but when character says thats my house and my son is inside, police just calmly tell him "then its ok, you can go on". WHAT? The building is on fire and you let a civilian go inside? It just did not make any sense.
My biggest gripe is with how ending was handled. During life and death situations, characters are discussing relationships and other mundane stuff which felt jarring to read. Since early issue, Lou was established as an important character but the way her character arc played out was utterly disappointing.
All in all, according to me, the whole series needed strong editing. It had immense potential, the art, the illustrations are mind blowing. I can take each cover and make a poster of it. It is just that beautiful but handling of the story ruined it all.