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By Various (Burlyman Entertainment)
ISBN: 1-84023-806-2
You’ve probably heard this before, I suspect, but I wasn’t overly impressed by the Matrix movies. This made the arrival of these two books something of a surprise to me.
The folks at Burlyman have gathered a pretty impressive crowd of comic creators to produce tales set in and spinning out of the filmic universe for their website, and these are now available in a format you can read on a bus or in the bath. And, believe me, you will want to.
Volume 1 expands the universe first seen in the movies, starring Neo and a brave band of human survivors battling against an oppressive computerised tyranny in a deadly cyber-reality with a series of telling short tales in a variety of styles and formats.
Under the editorial eye of Spencer Lamm and the auspices of original creators Larry and Andy Wachowski – who kick off proceedings with the Geof Darrow illustrated ‘Bits & Pieces of Information’, followed by Bill Sienkiewicz’s ‘Sweating the Small Stuff’, and Ted McKeever’s ‘A Life Less Empty’.
Neil Gaiman contributes the prose vignette ‘Goliath,’ with spot illustrations from Sienkiewicz and Gregory Ruth, ‘Burning Hope’ is by John Van Fleet, and Dave Gibbons recreates a Japanes parable in ‘Butterfly’. Troy Nixey and Dave McCaig combine for ‘A Sword of a Different Colour’ and alternative legend Peter Bagge crafts the truly disturbing ‘Get It?’
David Lapham’s black and white thriller ‘There are No Flowers in the Real World’ skilfully counterpoints Paul Chadwick’s oppressive ‘The Miller’s Tale’, whilst Ryder Windham and Killian Plunkett explore creativity in ‘Artistic Freedom.’
Greg Ruth returns to conclude the volume with the painterly comic strip fable ‘Hunters and Collectors,’ a contemplative finish to as funny, thrilling, frightening, distressing and rollicking a bunch of tales as I have not seen since the glory days of 2000AD.
In comic book terms at least this book is a fan-boy’s delight.
© 2003, 2004 Burlyman Entertainment, Inc. All rights reserved