Ryan Day
Apr 24, 2004, 10:02 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/ind/serenityrose3.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/ind/serenityrose3t.jpg" align=left alt="Serenity Rose #3"></a>Reviewer: Ryan Day Dreamhunter00@hotmail.com
Quick rating: Good
Suggested for Mature Readers (mild profanity)
Are You a Good Witch, a Bad Witch, or a Rock Star Witch?
Writer & Artist: Aaron A.
Serenity Rose is a strange little book.
It’s published by <a href="http://www.slavelabor.com" target="_blank">Slave Labor Graphics</a>, who introduced the world to Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Lenore and, most recently, <a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26223" target="_blank">Bear</a> and <a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26972" target="_blank">The Ghouly Boys</a>. They have a reputation for being very goth-friendly, and while they actually publish a wide range of books, they’re certainly aiming for their traditional target audience here.
Serenity Elizabeth Rose is a witch. She lives in a world that is by and large pretty normal, with the occasional supernatural interruption: Trolls lurk in the woods, harmless goblins wander about town, and vampires occasionally go nuts in nightclubs. Most people manage to take these things in stride and accept them. Serenity (Sera to her friends) isn’t hated, feared or reviled for her powers. She’s actually something of a celebrity, though she’d rather not be. Her home town of Crestfallen wants to put her name on tourism brochures. A pack of ridiculous goths follow her around in hopes of becoming part of her spooky, occult world. Her friend Kelton would be much happier if she’d sign her real name to the comic strips she draw for his zine. But Serenity only wants to be left alone, go to college, and draw in her sketchbook. The series, in fact, is set up as Serenity’s comic book journal, a concept that doesn’t entirely work but doesn’t receive too much attention anyway.
Writer/artist Aaron A. gives the book an odd feeling. It’s not a humour-based book like Johnny or Lenore, but there are certainly absurd elements: The goblins look like white bowling balls with legs, and the best way to defeat a vampire may just be to trap him in a giant inflatable pony. Serenity’s best friend Tessa serves largely as a wacky counterpoint to Serenity’s introvert; she’s a take-charge, in-your-face kinda gal, except when it comes to travelling through the troll-infested Inconsolable Woods. At some point, she also put Serenity’s little sister in a microwave. (“I wanted to see if she’d fit.”)
Serenity is essentially the calm, normal centre of a world that is largely insane and/or stupid. Even amongst her friends, she’s the only character in the book that seems like more of a person than a caricature. Tessa is great fun, but she’s more of a sidekick than an actual person. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; after all, who hasn’t felt like everyone else in the world is crazy? It helps that she’s a pretty likeable character: She’s a bit shy, uncertain, and a little lonely; there are relatively few witches in the world, and she’s a bit disappointed none of them have tried to befriend her. It’s a world view that won’t be entirely foreign to X-Men fans.
It also helps that she’s adorable. Aaron A.’s style is by no means realistic, but it is effective. Everyone’s pretty round and balloon-like, with big heads and eyes that take up half their face. This imbues the cast with plenty of personality, from Tessa’s wild eyes to the town sheriff’s casual friendliness. Serenity herself comes off as a bit of a cross between the X-Men’s Rogue and Mickey Mouse. Her big eyes tell all, and there’s just something incredibly endearing about her floating about her basement wearing goggles on top of her head. The character designs are particularly wonderful when it comes to the supernatural creatures: The goblins look like demented cupie dolls, and the troll is reminiscent of some of the creatures in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. The mysterious vampire in the woods (seen on the cover) transcends the overall cute feeling of the book and looks genuinely threatening.
There’s not a great deal of story development going on in this issue. Aaron A. is still establishing Serenity’s world: We’re given a look at both the history and status of witches in America, as well as a glimpse of the backlash against them. X-Men readers may experience a sense of deja vu from the right-wing TV blowhard who argues that the bill of rights shouldn’t apply to freaks who can move mountains with their brains. We’re also given a page of Serenity’s comic strip, “Welcome to Statickland,” which is cute and intriguing, but doesn’t contribute much to the story. Aaron is still developing as a storyteller, and this issue resembles some of Jhonen Vazquez’s early work on Johnny The Homicidal Maniac: There’s a lot of neat stuff going on, but it doesn’t entirely come all together.
That said, it’s a fun book, with some potential to really take off. Frankly, it’s only a matter of time before Serenity joins Lenore on t-shirts everywhere. Slave Labor could use another big hit, given the incredibly sporadic publishing schedules of Vazquez and Roman Dirge, and this book could certainly find a niche market.
To see some art and old strips, check out Aaron A.’s website at <a href="http://www.heartshapedskull.com" target="_blank">www.heartshapedskull.com</a>.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgnone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slghalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgnone.jpg
Quick rating: Good
Suggested for Mature Readers (mild profanity)
Are You a Good Witch, a Bad Witch, or a Rock Star Witch?
Writer & Artist: Aaron A.
Serenity Rose is a strange little book.
It’s published by <a href="http://www.slavelabor.com" target="_blank">Slave Labor Graphics</a>, who introduced the world to Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, Lenore and, most recently, <a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26223" target="_blank">Bear</a> and <a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26972" target="_blank">The Ghouly Boys</a>. They have a reputation for being very goth-friendly, and while they actually publish a wide range of books, they’re certainly aiming for their traditional target audience here.
Serenity Elizabeth Rose is a witch. She lives in a world that is by and large pretty normal, with the occasional supernatural interruption: Trolls lurk in the woods, harmless goblins wander about town, and vampires occasionally go nuts in nightclubs. Most people manage to take these things in stride and accept them. Serenity (Sera to her friends) isn’t hated, feared or reviled for her powers. She’s actually something of a celebrity, though she’d rather not be. Her home town of Crestfallen wants to put her name on tourism brochures. A pack of ridiculous goths follow her around in hopes of becoming part of her spooky, occult world. Her friend Kelton would be much happier if she’d sign her real name to the comic strips she draw for his zine. But Serenity only wants to be left alone, go to college, and draw in her sketchbook. The series, in fact, is set up as Serenity’s comic book journal, a concept that doesn’t entirely work but doesn’t receive too much attention anyway.
Writer/artist Aaron A. gives the book an odd feeling. It’s not a humour-based book like Johnny or Lenore, but there are certainly absurd elements: The goblins look like white bowling balls with legs, and the best way to defeat a vampire may just be to trap him in a giant inflatable pony. Serenity’s best friend Tessa serves largely as a wacky counterpoint to Serenity’s introvert; she’s a take-charge, in-your-face kinda gal, except when it comes to travelling through the troll-infested Inconsolable Woods. At some point, she also put Serenity’s little sister in a microwave. (“I wanted to see if she’d fit.”)
Serenity is essentially the calm, normal centre of a world that is largely insane and/or stupid. Even amongst her friends, she’s the only character in the book that seems like more of a person than a caricature. Tessa is great fun, but she’s more of a sidekick than an actual person. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; after all, who hasn’t felt like everyone else in the world is crazy? It helps that she’s a pretty likeable character: She’s a bit shy, uncertain, and a little lonely; there are relatively few witches in the world, and she’s a bit disappointed none of them have tried to befriend her. It’s a world view that won’t be entirely foreign to X-Men fans.
It also helps that she’s adorable. Aaron A.’s style is by no means realistic, but it is effective. Everyone’s pretty round and balloon-like, with big heads and eyes that take up half their face. This imbues the cast with plenty of personality, from Tessa’s wild eyes to the town sheriff’s casual friendliness. Serenity herself comes off as a bit of a cross between the X-Men’s Rogue and Mickey Mouse. Her big eyes tell all, and there’s just something incredibly endearing about her floating about her basement wearing goggles on top of her head. The character designs are particularly wonderful when it comes to the supernatural creatures: The goblins look like demented cupie dolls, and the troll is reminiscent of some of the creatures in Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away. The mysterious vampire in the woods (seen on the cover) transcends the overall cute feeling of the book and looks genuinely threatening.
There’s not a great deal of story development going on in this issue. Aaron A. is still establishing Serenity’s world: We’re given a look at both the history and status of witches in America, as well as a glimpse of the backlash against them. X-Men readers may experience a sense of deja vu from the right-wing TV blowhard who argues that the bill of rights shouldn’t apply to freaks who can move mountains with their brains. We’re also given a page of Serenity’s comic strip, “Welcome to Statickland,” which is cute and intriguing, but doesn’t contribute much to the story. Aaron is still developing as a storyteller, and this issue resembles some of Jhonen Vazquez’s early work on Johnny The Homicidal Maniac: There’s a lot of neat stuff going on, but it doesn’t entirely come all together.
That said, it’s a fun book, with some potential to really take off. Frankly, it’s only a matter of time before Serenity joins Lenore on t-shirts everywhere. Slave Labor could use another big hit, given the incredibly sporadic publishing schedules of Vazquez and Roman Dirge, and this book could certainly find a niche market.
To see some art and old strips, check out Aaron A.’s website at <a href="http://www.heartshapedskull.com" target="_blank">www.heartshapedskull.com</a>.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgnone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgnone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgnone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgfull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slghalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/slgnone.jpg