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Meridian (collected editions) #2
Meridian, Vol. 2: Going to Ground
As Sephie journeys home to Meridian, she encounters a variety of both good and bad people who help her battle her uncle Ilhan's plans to take over Meridian.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
68 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Randall Kesel
364 books32 followersBarbara Randall Kesel is an American writer and editor of comic books; her bibliography includes work for DC Comics, Marvel Comics, CrossGen, Image Comics and Dark Horse Comics. Kesel is a very outspoken opponent of sexism in the comic book industry. She is known for her strong female characters, influencing her then husband Karl's work on Lois Lane in the Superman titles and creating Grace, the ruler of the Golden City location in Comics' Greatest World.
Kesel initially came into the comics world after writing a 10-page letter to editor Dick Giordano regarding the portrayal of female comic book characters. At Dark Horse, Kesel was part of Team CGW, responsible for most of the design and creation of the setting and characters in the Golden City location. She is currently part of book packaging company The Pack, alongside Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn, Gordon Kent and Dave Olbrich.
Kesel has been nominated for the 1991 "Best Editor" Eisner Award for Badlands, Aliens: Genocide and Star Wars. In 1995, she was nominated for "Best Anthology" and "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Material" Harvey Awards for, respectively, Instant Piano and Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. She won the 1996 "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work" Harvey Award, for Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August.
Kesel initially came into the comics world after writing a 10-page letter to editor Dick Giordano regarding the portrayal of female comic book characters. At Dark Horse, Kesel was part of Team CGW, responsible for most of the design and creation of the setting and characters in the Golden City location. She is currently part of book packaging company The Pack, alongside Lee Nordling, Brian Augustyn, Gordon Kent and Dave Olbrich.
Kesel has been nominated for the 1991 "Best Editor" Eisner Award for Badlands, Aliens: Genocide and Star Wars. In 1995, she was nominated for "Best Anthology" and "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Material" Harvey Awards for, respectively, Instant Piano and Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. She won the 1996 "Best Graphic Album of Previously Published Work" Harvey Award, for Hellboy: The Wolves of St. August.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 23, 2021
At the end of the previous volume, Sephie was enslaved and forced to work with the orphaned children trying to earn the right to stay in Akasia, and Jad found out that Sephie fell from her ship and assumed the fall must have killed her.
Sephie gradually gains more control over her powers and begins to understand their limitations. She's able to free herself and heads out in search of people who can help her. Although she's more careful after her experience at Akasia, she does manage to come across a few surprises, including a few people who knew her parents from before she was born. Meanwhile, Meridian's refugees find a new floating island to call home, and Ilhan deals with his new apprentice and a man who seems to have special knowledge of his and Sephie's new powers.
This was better than the first volume - it didn't jump around quite so much and felt a little more focused. Still, I found that the more I learned about the premise (the beings that granted Ilahn and Sephie their powers appear to be part of a larger Crossgen universe), the more annoyed and less interested I was in it all. I have no idea which of the god-like/superhero characters were people that fans of Crossgen's other titles would know, and the bits with Muse, Ghetan, and Ilahn's trip to Elysia felt like being a Marvel or DC newbie and suddenly getting dumped into something that was clearly a larger story thread intended for longtime fans.
Most of the volume followed Sephie and her journey to get others to join her in standing up against her uncle. The flashback to when her mother and father first met was okay, I guess, but we already knew most of it. Granted, it was interesting to find out that Sephie's mother was 30 when Turos and Ilahn fell for her - the woman in these types of stories (two guys in love with the same woman, one turns villainous when he can't have her) tends to be younger.
I'm not a fan of the romantic complications Kesel is setting up. There were hints, even in the first volume, that one of Sephie's friends was secretly in love with Jad. Apparently Jad and Sephie were interested in each other but hadn't really talked about it. When Jad thought Sephie died, Sephie's friend spotted an opportunity. Meanwhile, Sephie was introduced to a young botanist who'd practically been betrothed to her when he was a child and she was a fetus. I imagine this will all become a lot messier when Jad discovers that Sephie is still alive.
The art was okay, and since the story didn't jump around quite so much, I didn't have as many difficulties with remembering and/or figuring out who everyone was. I'm still not a fan of how often the artists change, though. Certain characters looked like completely different people depending on who drew them - Jad's father was unrecognizable in his wedding scene, for example, and the flashback in the "Chronicles" featured three characters with brown hair (Turos, Ilahn, and Jon) who were only recognizable in context.
Well, that's all the volumes I own, and at this point I don't plan to seek the rest out via library checkouts. I did somehow get my hands on a couple DVDs (interactive comics?) that I still need to look at, though.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
Sephie gradually gains more control over her powers and begins to understand their limitations. She's able to free herself and heads out in search of people who can help her. Although she's more careful after her experience at Akasia, she does manage to come across a few surprises, including a few people who knew her parents from before she was born. Meanwhile, Meridian's refugees find a new floating island to call home, and Ilhan deals with his new apprentice and a man who seems to have special knowledge of his and Sephie's new powers.
This was better than the first volume - it didn't jump around quite so much and felt a little more focused. Still, I found that the more I learned about the premise (the beings that granted Ilahn and Sephie their powers appear to be part of a larger Crossgen universe), the more annoyed and less interested I was in it all. I have no idea which of the god-like/superhero characters were people that fans of Crossgen's other titles would know, and the bits with Muse, Ghetan, and Ilahn's trip to Elysia felt like being a Marvel or DC newbie and suddenly getting dumped into something that was clearly a larger story thread intended for longtime fans.
Most of the volume followed Sephie and her journey to get others to join her in standing up against her uncle. The flashback to when her mother and father first met was okay, I guess, but we already knew most of it. Granted, it was interesting to find out that Sephie's mother was 30 when Turos and Ilahn fell for her - the woman in these types of stories (two guys in love with the same woman, one turns villainous when he can't have her) tends to be younger.
I'm not a fan of the romantic complications Kesel is setting up. There were hints, even in the first volume, that one of Sephie's friends was secretly in love with Jad. Apparently Jad and Sephie were interested in each other but hadn't really talked about it. When Jad thought Sephie died, Sephie's friend spotted an opportunity. Meanwhile, Sephie was introduced to a young botanist who'd practically been betrothed to her when he was a child and she was a fetus. I imagine this will all become a lot messier when Jad discovers that Sephie is still alive.
The art was okay, and since the story didn't jump around quite so much, I didn't have as many difficulties with remembering and/or figuring out who everyone was. I'm still not a fan of how often the artists change, though. Certain characters looked like completely different people depending on who drew them - Jad's father was unrecognizable in his wedding scene, for example, and the flashback in the "Chronicles" featured three characters with brown hair (Turos, Ilahn, and Jon) who were only recognizable in context.
Well, that's all the volumes I own, and at this point I don't plan to seek the rest out via library checkouts. I did somehow get my hands on a couple DVDs (interactive comics?) that I still need to look at, though.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
May 16, 2023
Oops. Forgot to log this.
The second volume really starts to...well, sail. Sephie gains some confidence, the world building continues, some history is established, and a bunch of action takes place. The art is generally more consistent. Though there's an issue that was drawn by the late, great George Pérez, which has its own look, but is also essentially a flashback, so that's fine.
I really, really like the setting of this series, and it definitely makes sense that I was so into it when it was originally being published.
From here on, I'll be re-reading it in the Forge digests, which aren't represented here on Goodreads, but I definitely remember the series being good, so check it out.
The second volume really starts to...well, sail. Sephie gains some confidence, the world building continues, some history is established, and a bunch of action takes place. The art is generally more consistent. Though there's an issue that was drawn by the late, great George Pérez, which has its own look, but is also essentially a flashback, so that's fine.
I really, really like the setting of this series, and it definitely makes sense that I was so into it when it was originally being published.
From here on, I'll be re-reading it in the Forge digests, which aren't represented here on Goodreads, but I definitely remember the series being good, so check it out.
July 8, 2020
I liked the plot progression, character development, and expanded world. The art is beautiful, but the changing styles every other issue really threw me off. Sometimes the same character looked completely different depending on who did the line work.
March 8, 2024
Decent.
Read
June 6, 2008As good as the first 7 issues in the series, this second volume extends Sephie's heroic adventure across the world of Demetria.
In this installment, Sephie escapes from the forced child labor factory in Akasia and is taken in by friendly, rustic loggers who harvest the wood used to build the ships back on Sephie's home Island of Meridian.
Other stuff happens too, of course, but you should probably just pick up the whole series and read it.
In this installment, Sephie escapes from the forced child labor factory in Akasia and is taken in by friendly, rustic loggers who harvest the wood used to build the ships back on Sephie's home Island of Meridian.
Other stuff happens too, of course, but you should probably just pick up the whole series and read it.
December 27, 2012
Its sad that this book along with the entire company never survived but this collection here (containing 8 issues) is really good. The art by current superstar, Steve McNiven is utterly gorgeous. The world that is created here comes alive. Barbara Kesel breathes life into the young heroine, Sephie. Although her prose can sometimes be a little too sugary and the connection to the other Crossgen titles take the story off course, this book is a must read for all ages, especially young girls.
September 11, 2015
Still has lovely artwork. But....not enough for me I guess.
Things get more intense in this one and it gives you some backstory.
But I'm still losing interest in this series. I don't know if I will finish it.
I keep reading that this series is really poplar with the ladies, but other than having a female lead I'm not sure why this and not other things?
I don't think this book is really offering anything super different. Classic good and evil stuff. Not really feeling it.
Things get more intense in this one and it gives you some backstory.
But I'm still losing interest in this series. I don't know if I will finish it.
I keep reading that this series is really poplar with the ladies, but other than having a female lead I'm not sure why this and not other things?
I don't think this book is really offering anything super different. Classic good and evil stuff. Not really feeling it.
October 13, 2008
Reprints Meridian #8-14 and Crossgen Chronicles #3. Sephie tries to rally the cavern people, the Meridianites find a new home, and Ilahn visits the First in Elysia. Meridian continues to be one of the stronger Crossgen titles with this collection. The series had a good direction, but never got to see its ultimate goal.
April 29, 2008
I like comics that show how dominant women are compared to men
September 17, 2008
I really like this series.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews