Site hosted by Angelfire.com: Build your free website today!

XerØ #1

    XerØ "The Closer":  i must say, the art is a lot clearer in color than in the B&W preview copy I got.  The inker seems to have a 00 nib and a paintroller as his main tools.  (Although the colors add some confusion in the "flushing: scene.)

    In the tradition of late, this issue would almost be better described as, please forgive the pun, XerØ #0.  It introduces the character, his secret identity, his nifty powers and shows him in action, but only gives small hints of actual story advancement.  And unlike many Priest stories, this one is very linear, the only concessions to flashback being in news stories boradcast on big-screen televisions in the background.  It's also mostly a serious story, with only a couple of bits of comic relief.  In other words, this isn't a "Priest Story" in the way we've come to expect.

    Unfortunately, it's also not really enough of anything to say for sure if it'll be any good yet.  Hints and glimmers, yes, but that's about it.   At times it feels like Priest haas succumbed to Nomura Syndrome, where the writer spends more time talking about the technical details than the characters (see Luftwaffe 1946 for what I'm talking about).

    A bit of reference on the character.  XerØ is a heavily cyborged man who acts as a "closer", finishing off botched cases for various government agencies once all else has failed.  The gimmick is that while XerØ is a tall blond white guy, his real identity is that of a black basketball star, Coltrane Walker, a bad boy who makes Dennis Rodman look like a little girl (insert your own joke about Rodman making Rodman look like a little girl). XerØ's secret isn't revealed until near the end (although it's hinted at), making the constant references to Trane seem like worldbuilding, which was fairly well pulled off.

    Still, as far as I can tell, this is just the teaser before the credits.  The real story starts next issue, whe he starts to really wonder whether amorality is a good thing.


zero.GIF (1378 bytes)zero.GIF (1378 bytes)