In April of 2011, IGN Comics began allowing MyIGN users to submit articles for their weekly review roundup. Any that live up to IGN’s editorial standards are be published alongside IGN’s staff reviews. Any that I write, I’ll post here, whether they get published or not.
This review was published, and included in the April 13th IGN Comics review roundup.
Story by: Hoang Nguyen, Khari Evans, Paul Gardner & Mike Kennedy
Art by: Khari Evans, Kinsun Loh & Hoang Nguyen
After Carbon Grey #1, I’ll admit I was lost. I gleaned that it’s set in a WWI inspired sci-fi world with a steampunk sensibility, and that the sisters Grey are the protectors of a ruler called The Kaiser. There are dirigibles, Lugers, swords, boobs, and lots of blood… but very little story development. At its heart, the story is about Mathilde and Giselle Grey, the first twins born to a line of protectors that was traditionally a set of three. Issue #1’s disjointedness must have been apparent, though, since #2 starts with an entire page of expositional history, picking up with Giselle as the prime suspect in the Kaiser’s murder.
Upon finishing #2, I’m as lost as when I finished #1. Although the art is above par (with three credited artists, though, I’m not sure who’s responsible), the writing fails to draw me into any of the characters in the book. We’re still unsure of the purpose of side characters, aside from Dina Cumming attempting to steal “level 5 Comsec clearance” from Elliot Pepper (posing as a dead officer), and their bloody escape from a pursuer (the “Baron”). Their story intersects with Giselle’s, but we’re waiting to see where it leads.
Overall, I found Carbon Grey incoherent. The art is pretty but shallow, the plot is buried so deep that it’s difficult to follow and, frankly, they’ve failed to make me care. It could develop into something more cohesive, but right now it feels almost as unintelligible as the original movie version of Akira. Almost.
