Digitally Speaking...#20 "Archeologists of Shadows Vol. III"

Archeologists of Shadows, Vol. 3: The Alter Egos (Septagon Studios)
From 2014.

The third of six volumes, meaning we're halfway through, Archeologists of Shadows: The Alter Egos explains the underlying mythology of the concept in greater detail than its predecessors and thereby enriches the whole experience.

And as always, AOS itself remains a revelation of the graphic novel form.

Patricio Clarey's art is a direct manifestation of the ambitious nature of the saga, which becomes all the more clear in The Alter Egos.  It wasn't until now, for instance, that I made an association between Clarey's work and Indian mythology.  As explained in this volume, that's a vital connection indeed.

It's intricate reading.  Lara Fuentes presents the continuing plight of heroes Alix and Baltimo (neither name is actually referenced this volume, so it increasingly pays to keep reading, which isn't too difficult at this point), who are at once hero quest journeyers and symbols.  They've been identified as Alter Egos, or in other words avatars, real world manifestations of the gods, and they've been trying to believe that themselves, too.  This is a large part of what's accomplished in the new volume.

It's a little like The Matrix but exploded to truly mythic proportions.  The Alter Egos is a little like the part of The Matrix Reloaded where we meet The Architect, but this time the heroes are being pushed to fulfill their destiny instead of being rejected.

There are matters of philosophy and faith to be considered.  At this point the full scope and ambition of the project stand revealed, and it's pretty breathtaking.

As a crossroads, this is the point where everyone has to decide where they stand, how they will react to the crisis.  Enemies play their hand, allies prove their worth.  You think this might actually be the end of the story, but it's not.  And thank goodness.

At its heart, AOS is a manifestation of the classic modern fever dream of machines eventually taking over the world, except in this vision, we're the machines, like the Borg in Star Trek we'll be transformed, piece by piece, because that's the only way to reach our ultimate goal and finally figure out what it's all about, making peace, establishing a lasting order, all of that.  There's also the Sun used, as it once was, the primal source of all things, a little like a vision Grant Morrison had in the pages of DC One Million.

This is at once familiar and totally unique material, and it's completely fascinating.

It remains highly recommended.

Digitally Speaking...#19 "Archeologists of Shadows Vol. II"

via Major Spoilers

Archeologists of Shadows Vol. 2: Once a Nightmare (Septagon Studios)

From 2012.

As you may or may not recall, after reading the first AOS volume, I was pretty excited.  This is a version of the hero's journey that is about as pure as well as radical as you can get.

This second volume is a kind of dream logic.  Our heroes Alix and Baltimo, the so-called Alter Egos, become separated for the first time.  They are the last hope of the resistance against a world that seeks to fully mechanize everyone.  The Archeologists of Light have already fallen.  Now it remains to the Archeologists of Shadows to succeed, and all their hopes have been pinned on the pair of travelers who are trying to confirm that they are who other people say they are.  In the process, they're exploring the very depths of their whole world.

When I say "dream logic," I mean that this volume in particular moves along swiftly, with Alix and Baltimo moving from one moment, one challenge, to the next without much ceremony.  Things happen, not flippantly, but at a steady pace.  It's fitting that I invoke dreams, because both are faced with their worst fears (there's at least one good line when they come back together to compare notes on the experience, a trademark of AOS I particularly enjoy).

Patricio Clarey's art remains superb, while Lara Fuentes manages to slow the pace of the story without losing momentum.  Does that make sense?  In a lot of ways, Once a Nightmare is a lot like Empire Strikes Back, if the whole story had taken place on Dagobah.

via the Geek Girl Project

This particular fellow reminds me that AOS is in a lot of ways what the Star Wars prequels could have been like if George Lucas had done away with pesky humans entirely (he tried his best!).  And if that helps, if that's a positive association for you, maybe that'll help you understand this thing better.

Apparently the third volume is still being worked on, which means I'll have to wait (hopefully not too long) to see what happens next.  Baited breath!

Digitally Speaking...#18 "Archeologists of Shadows"

via Deviantart

Archeologists of Shadows, Vol. 1: The Resistance (Septagon Studios)

From 2011.

Well, I'm officially an AOS fanboy.

This is exactly the kind of awesome genius I love to find in the comiXology Submit bundle I purchased a few months back.  I've discovered a few gems already, stuff I easily recommend, but I have a new favorite.  To prove it, I've actually gone ahead and gotten the second volume (it's really cheap, too, just $ .99), and look forward to reading that, and rereading this one.  It's really that good.

This is one of those hero quests that calls to mind other goodness you've experienced.  I mean, the hero quest is classic storytelling, so finding stuff that reminds you of other stuff isn't really that difficult.  This particular hero quest involves a couple of travelers who stumble into a much bigger story by the end of this volume.  These travelers exist in a world where everyone must comply with the edict to become fully mechanized.  There's a resistance (there's always a resistance), but these guys aren't really a part of it until the resistance, the Archeologists, reveal to them their crucial role in it.  This is like discovering The Matrix all over again.

A lot of Matrix fans soured on that experience after the two sequels.  I never really understood that, but oh well.  The benefit of AOS is that at the end of this volume, which is about fifty pages of story and fifty more peaking behind the scenes, the travelers (Baltimo and Alix) are really just beginning their journey.  The whole volume is a journey, really, which leads them to Calvin, a.k.a. the Hermit.  I love that the friendly wizard type in AOS is actually a hermit, and named the Hermit.  This is the guy who really knows how to isolate himself.  

Basically everything about AOS is perfect.

It's the same kind of story that Star Wars always is, throwing you right into the story without a ton of preamble.  I always loved that about Star Wars, and so it's nice to see another story like that.  The dialogue is pitch-perfect.  That's to writer Lara Fuentes' credit.  The art from Patricio Clarey (they're Spanish).  The cover really only suggests how awesome that is.  It's like an animated movie that really will never be made because it's actually dark.  It's steampunk as if there were more steam than punk to it (which actually makes it far more punk).  

Do I have to say it again?  It's great.  I love it.

via Comics Cube

(One caveat this sample suggests: I had to magnify the pages in order to properly read the word balloons.  So best keep that in mind.)

To be clear, this is not your average comic book, and really, that's another huge plus.  It's refreshing.  The art's really a bit like a Dave McKean cover to Sandman in some ways.  Since the dialogue reads so crisply, you really don't end up minding how unusual the page looks around it.  And since the story moves along just as crisply, this is all a delightful package, it really is.

Something I have absolutely no trouble at all supporting.  Hopefully in paperback form at some point.  Hardback?  I would even do that.  

If they were to make a movie out of this, I imagine something so blindingly ambitious for wide audiences, it probably couldn't be done anytime soon anyway.  It would be a bit like watching Will Smith's I, Robot, but with less Will Smith and more of Alan Tudyk's robot.  Would you watch several hours of that?  I would.  I loved that movie.  But I'm pretty sure I love AOS more.

Time will tell, but I think I love it at a level comparable to The Matrix.  Or even Star Wars.  I don't toss that kind of love lightly.  AOS has me that level of giddy.  So yeah, AOS fanboy.