W. Maxwell Prince

I wasn't sure how to rate this as I couldn't decide whether having a brilliant idea, but absolutely wasting it was a net positive or negative, but this is an infuriating and heartbreakingly piss poor actualization of some great concepts.

The various cover artists are the true stars. I have mixed feelings about Morazzo. I think it is just personal taste, but I don't enjoy the way they draw ordinary scenes and people, who is most of the graphic novel, but when things get weirder, incorporate the surreality of the Electric Sublime and style of famous paintings, their art comes alive! The blending of the images of famous artworks and collages are really cool.

I think the core of my issue is that this is The Matrix and Ready Player One, but for well-known classic paintings. There is also an art murder mystery, but we get so little to go on beyond references and a reveal at the end that is supposed to feel weighty, but with the nature of the storytelling here it's just another familiar face. There is action that feels forced in 'because it's a comic' with movie logic and no significance. Speaking of the Matrix, there's a pointless reference to the display weapons fight in the Merovingian's place from The Matrix Reloaded. It just feels very over eager Tarrantino stan film student.

So much manages to happen or is rushed through without every letting anything to breathe. Let's explore the Electric Blue some more, let's actually appreciate and ground the experience of being in these famous paintings with their meaning and context, and not just one beautiful spread with no narrative weight.

The handling of mental illness as something at the same time silly and something to mock and laugh at, gross and uncomfortable, and a superpower that makes you 'normal' and 'acceptable' when you use it. Fuck all the way off! I tried to find anything out about the creators and if they have any experience with mental health issues or have discussed it at all and couldn't find anything, so it seems it's just neurotypical people using us as a fun freakshow diversion. I hate it. I hate it.

It just feels like this really could have been something magical and there are some brilliant ideas here to be inspired by and do something good with. It's incredibly disappointing to see someone come so close to greatness and step on the rake of their own edgelord, shallow, low-hanging fruit approach.

I feel like I'm nowhere near this mean normally, but I got really hacked of by the ableism from the get go, but I stuck it out to see what they did with the ideas, which was. basically nothing.

I would love more than anything to see a good version of this in any medium.… (altro)

I really didn't enjoy this at all.

I'm surprised as I've been in such a groove of loving everything from Image Comics I've checked out far and I enjoy Tales from the Crypt, Tales from the Darkside, and Stephen King short stories. Maybe I'm missing something and I am a big believer in the joys of subjectivity, but for me this came across as rather edgelord, bitter, and shallow, which is all good if that's your thing. Personally, I need a bit more humanity and emotional connection in my nihilism. I also thought some of the subject matter, particularly with the heroin addicts, felt exploitative, used for little more than shock and easy access trauma (I'm definitely not phrasing that how I want to convey what I mean). There seemed to just be a lack of care and understanding of addiction beyond the tropes.

I'd be lying if the references to the Sweet Place, hell, and the Man in Black who appeared right at the end didn't intrigue me to know more about who the Ice Cream Man is and the lore of this world, which does genuinely seem interesting. However, short of somone seriously convincing me this is worth pushing through to better stories and pay off, I'm really not untested in reading anymore of this comic.

Addendum:

My feelings about the book haven't changed at all, but the more I read reviews with people saying it's just like or for fans of all the things I like, the more weird I feel. My brain is melting into an autistic puddle.… (altro)