The Catalyst #1
Comichaus 2019
Written by Nick Bryan
Illustrated by Robert Ahmad
Coloured by David Cooper
Lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Guy is a Catalyst, an artificial being travelling from universe to universe, genre to genre, instigating the stories. Whether you need a clue to your mystery, a warning from a mysterious stranger or a hint of hope, he's there. Whatever gets you into the next scene. But why does this helpful robot always end up beaten senseless? Did you need to stab him as you accepted the ancient scroll?
As the realities roll by, Guy's patience starts to wear thin. But can he ever be anything else?
Also featuring: Wanted: Brave Warriors, a short bonus story looking at day-to-day life in a fantasy world Guy passes through, where courage might be the worst possible trait for completing a quest.
When Pete sent me this and asked me if I would take a look and see if I could do a review I was more than willing. While I don’t have digital subscriptions this site is one that if you like to read digitally you should be a part of, they have a massive menu and some of the hottest indie/small/self-published books out there. I have found a number of series on there that I have checked out and reviewed and in this new modern day and age having an option like this is priceless.
It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside, but when the book opens and it tells us Universe #1945 I had assumed it was the year. It isn’t it’s a take on the Multiverse theory and as such I found the approach here very interesting, smartly done and while this may be a one-shot it makes me wish to see more of it. Whether or not it’s Guy who would tell the stories or not well that’s another matter but this one issue opens up a world of possibilities and it would make one hell of a great ongoing series. So much potential here for one and done or multi-issue arcs. So the story and the way Nick brings it to us is done in such a way that he really grabs the readers’ attention and imagination that almost feels as if you could be a part of the story. Also Guy’s personality and his own “crisis of conscience” that we see is something universally understood making him easy to connect to.
Robert and Ahmad do some interesting work on the interiors. It very much as a simple approach feel to it but that doesn’t detract from each vignette having it’s own look, style and feel. I am actually of this approach and it shows range and vision not to mention a strong eye and a penchant for subtly shifting the readers’ mind along with the shift in location. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a solid eye for storytelling. I have to say that the composition of the panels, including utilisation of backgrounds, so we get the maximum impact in such a short amount of time is sensational to see. I do like the colour work which is also instrumental in changing the mood and feel of each mini adventure. There really are some nice uses of shading, blocking even colour gradation here and it’s nice to see these guys matching that range of the writing.
The way this story is structured and the overall ebb & flow created by how we see the story & plot development, pacing and this really good characterisation have a huge impact on how much the reader has experiencing this story. The Back-up is a hoot and the ingenuity of having to create these realities and the revisit this one is extremely well worth your time. This book brought me joy and happiness, it made me smile and I had a genuinely good time.
You can check them out here https://www.comichaus.com/
Comichaus 2019
Written by Nick Bryan
Illustrated by Robert Ahmad
Coloured by David Cooper
Lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Guy is a Catalyst, an artificial being travelling from universe to universe, genre to genre, instigating the stories. Whether you need a clue to your mystery, a warning from a mysterious stranger or a hint of hope, he's there. Whatever gets you into the next scene. But why does this helpful robot always end up beaten senseless? Did you need to stab him as you accepted the ancient scroll?
As the realities roll by, Guy's patience starts to wear thin. But can he ever be anything else?
Also featuring: Wanted: Brave Warriors, a short bonus story looking at day-to-day life in a fantasy world Guy passes through, where courage might be the worst possible trait for completing a quest.
When Pete sent me this and asked me if I would take a look and see if I could do a review I was more than willing. While I don’t have digital subscriptions this site is one that if you like to read digitally you should be a part of, they have a massive menu and some of the hottest indie/small/self-published books out there. I have found a number of series on there that I have checked out and reviewed and in this new modern day and age having an option like this is priceless.
It’s a little bit funny, this feeling inside, but when the book opens and it tells us Universe #1945 I had assumed it was the year. It isn’t it’s a take on the Multiverse theory and as such I found the approach here very interesting, smartly done and while this may be a one-shot it makes me wish to see more of it. Whether or not it’s Guy who would tell the stories or not well that’s another matter but this one issue opens up a world of possibilities and it would make one hell of a great ongoing series. So much potential here for one and done or multi-issue arcs. So the story and the way Nick brings it to us is done in such a way that he really grabs the readers’ attention and imagination that almost feels as if you could be a part of the story. Also Guy’s personality and his own “crisis of conscience” that we see is something universally understood making him easy to connect to.
Robert and Ahmad do some interesting work on the interiors. It very much as a simple approach feel to it but that doesn’t detract from each vignette having it’s own look, style and feel. I am actually of this approach and it shows range and vision not to mention a strong eye and a penchant for subtly shifting the readers’ mind along with the shift in location. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows a solid eye for storytelling. I have to say that the composition of the panels, including utilisation of backgrounds, so we get the maximum impact in such a short amount of time is sensational to see. I do like the colour work which is also instrumental in changing the mood and feel of each mini adventure. There really are some nice uses of shading, blocking even colour gradation here and it’s nice to see these guys matching that range of the writing.
The way this story is structured and the overall ebb & flow created by how we see the story & plot development, pacing and this really good characterisation have a huge impact on how much the reader has experiencing this story. The Back-up is a hoot and the ingenuity of having to create these realities and the revisit this one is extremely well worth your time. This book brought me joy and happiness, it made me smile and I had a genuinely good time.
You can check them out here https://www.comichaus.com/
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