Michael D Hamersky On Comics Reviews...    IRON (or) The War After  A Graphic Novel By   S.M. Vidaurri / Archaia

TODAY'S FEATURE IS BLOG #3806 -    Today's blog is on the graphic novel titled: 'IRON (or The War After),' by S.M. Vidaurri.  From Archaia Entertainment.

So what's the book about?

Here's the promotional info:

It is the aftermath of a long war, in a world of constant winter. An intelligence spy from the Resistance - the rabbit, Hardin - steals secret information from a military base of the Regime. His actions set off a chain of events that reverberates through the ranks of both sides, touching everyone from Pavel the crow to Giles the goat, from the highest-ranking officials to the smallest orphaned child. When the snow finally settles, who will be the true patriot and who the true traitor?

So what's my thoughts on this book?

Well... Quite honestly, I was a little disappointed right off the bat, when the second sentence of the story started off with cursing... From an animal character.  That was on page 8 of the story.

I couldn't get over the animal figures talking the way they did in the following pages. 

No, it wasn't that the animal figures were funny animal characters, as the artwork definitely was not cartoonish in style.

I continued to read the story, hoping that it would get better, or that I would get accustomed to the animal characters talking or acting the way they did. 

It did get a little better, enough that I finished the story.

There was actually an Epilogue, and then the final page, stating 'The End'.

Then there was a guest artist gallery which featured the story's characters portrayed by others.

I liked David Petersen's pin-up page! (David is the author of Mouse Guard.)

Tim Durning's page was okay...

Christian 'Patch' Patchell's page was a little strange in presentation.

Eric Orchard's page was right on.

Eamon Dougherty's page had nine panels, with nine different characters / scenes.  The style was becoming of the story presented in the book, in my opinion.

Alex Eckman-Lawn's page was kind of spooky, but in a style that would work for the story.

I guess that the book had enough going for it to have Archaia publish it.  They printed it with a nice cloth cover, which induced me to open up the book and read it.

The storyline was good enough, the artwork was good enough, but together, the book just wasn't 'there' for me as a reader.  Possibly I'm not the target market for this book?

The artwork was fine, (watercolored panels), and actually could stand alone with different dialogue written...

I'm giving this book a Fine Plus (F+) 6.5 out of a possible 10.0 comic book grading scale.

Here is the ordering info for the book:

Reading level: Ages 12 and up
Hardcover: 152 pages
Publisher: Archaia Entertainment, LLC (January 1, 2013)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 193639328X
ISBN-13: 978-1936393282
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 0.8 x 9 inches

If your LCBS doesn't have it in stock... Then you can order it here online: Iron: Or, the War After.  

~ Michael

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