Mood:
caffeinatedTopic: Comic Books - New
TODAY'S FEATURE - Blog #3150: Yes, this is yet another publication given to me at the recent 2010 Wizard World Anaheim Comic Con in Artists Alley for possible review in this blog! As you can tell from my earlier posts, I met a lot of comics and graphic novel creators in the Artists Alley. That is the main reason I go to comic cons now, besides seeing programs / panels! So what's this graphic novel, (GN), about? Well, I found this on the back of the graphic novel itself, as the web site for this GN only had graphics, no promos: "Clarissa's World: Poor Clarissa Case. Father left home when se was quite young and Mother is confined to a wheelchair. One evening, after climbing out of a bedroom window, Clarissa's world changes forever. Normal never looked so strange in this tale of secrets, solitude and small town Obsession." "An original graphic novel written by William Rees with artwork by Jeff Clemens." Cover art by Sam Hart - Art & Lettering by Jeff Clemens - Written by William Rees - Additional Design by Jenny Frison "For mature audiences: ISBN-13: 978-0-0787623-2-2 - $11.95 cover price." So what's 'My Take' on this 93 page graphic novel first published in 2008?Front Cover: The front cover is an attention grabber, showing enough to entice a casual browser into picking it up to thumb through. Inside Front Cover: Is blank...Yes, blank. It's a Graphic Novel though, so that's OK. Splash Page: Kind of 'sketchy' for a 'splash page', but wait, it's not a 'splash page', which is seen after turning the page. The Rest of the Pages: The story has separate 'chapters' inside. Since it a GN, there is no 'to be continued' last page. Last Page: Is actually a page 'About the Authors' which has good insight to the creators of this GN. Inside Back Cover: Blank...(again)! Back Cover: Promo text about the GN, which I've retyped in the above section "What's this graphic novel about?". So, after all of the above...what is 'My Take' on all of this? Well...First of all, this is the last publication for me to blog about that Jeff Clemens gave me for possible review at the Wizard World Anaheim. Here are the links to my reviews on his other works that I have blogged about previously: Black Dawn #1 and Vesuvius Johnson: Day One. Back to this GN: I gave this GN a chance to reel me in during several days of reading it. Especially after liking the two other publications that Jeff illustrated with different authors. However this publication I found to be somewhat scattered in the storytelling and possibly even slightly lurid. I found that there was a committment to unfold this story by the two creators, so I hung in there to finish it. The story is not one I would normally read, but I wanted to finish it after starting it. I do have a slight problem about the main character, Clarissa, who I believe is a 16-year-old girl, that wants to escape taking care of her handicapped mother, after meeting what she thinks is a handsome older man, by 'accident'. Clarissa is so desperate to escape from her life that she does fall immediately for this "George Simmons". But meeting George is not that coincidental as she might think so... What made this harder for me to read was the fact that there are 'diary entries' and then 'fantay chapters' or 'inserts' that kind of pulled me away from the main story. I believe that is where the storyline starting failing me. The twists that the story takes seem to not be out of place, nor all that far fetched as the story developes, but what I believe to be a much younger girl falling for the stranger is why it is considered to be for 'mature audiences'. I'll leave it at that. I mentioned Jeff Clemens artwork in two earlier review blogs above. This project 'Obsession' was his first after graduating the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art in New Jersey. Jeff's additional works can be found at his web site at: Jeff Clemens.com . William Rees had one graphic novel before this one, 'Scars and Bars' released in 2006. I have not read that project. The web site for both of these graphic novels were placed on hiatus back in September of 2009. I would grade this graphic novel as a 'Fine' (F) 6.0 out of the 10.0 Grading Scale. Here's the publisher's site: HeavyProton.com - which like I said above...appears to be on a 'hiatus' at this time. You can contact them for a possible copy to purchase, or check out Amazon.com as there is an ISBN number provided above. I just did, and there are four copies listed for sale there at less than cover price. My thanks to Jeff Clemens, for submitting this graphic novel for possible review! AND My thanks again to all of YOU reading this blog and our archived blog posts, now over the 3,145 total posts in number! ~ Michael D Hamersky @ ComicBookCollectorsBlog.com
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