Solstice

by Steven T. Seagle, Justin Norman

The shortest day of the year is the longest day of Hugh Waterhouse's life. His father, Russell, a millionaire with a fatal brain tumor, drags Hugh to the four corners of the earth in a desperate search for the legendary Fountain of Youth. But there's a reason this mysterious wellspring has never been found... a reason why its most noted seekers have all seen their lives end prematurely. And on the shortest day of the year... the solstice... Hugh will discover the secret of immortality the hard way. A harrowing tale of murder, mysticism, and myth by Steven T. Seagle (IT'S A BIRD..., HOUSE OF SECRETS, X-MEN, SANDMAN MYSTERY THEATRE) and artist Justin Norman.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction

116 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2005

About the author

Steven T. Seagle is an American writer who works in the comic book, television, film, live theater, video game, and animation industries.

Reviews

[Maria Paredes · Rating 1 out of 5]

The idea of searching for the fountain of eternal life intrigued me but what I found just ended up leaving me bewildered and disappointed. I am Chilean and the people he depicted as "locals" and "natives" were racist. Chile has snowy mountain and the driest dessert in the world but no jungles. The people which I'm guessing are suppose to be Mapuche don't use darts. They closely resemble native tribes from Brazil so I was confused why they depicted them this way. The ending was anti climatic, kind of reveals something to the readers about the father and his son struggles to adjust with their relationship. The flashbacks, the traumatic childhood events and the story makes it hard to follow, almost like shock value. Would not recommend and would of been fine if I had never picked it up. Much better graphic novels that touch on this subject and do a better job. Will try to forget like I never read it.

[Jonathan Maas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Seagle and his group, and this one was awesome as well. A psychopathic father isn't fun, but man can he drive a tale. Great art as well!

[Brian Dickerson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Surprisingly, this book has quite a few bad reviews. I really liked it. You will not like Russell, the wealthy and evilly powerful patriarch of the family, but it’s a page turning adventure story about a mythical place / item we’ve all heard before. BUT, it’s told very well and I dig the Moritat’s artwork.

[Blair · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remembered liking Seagle's It's a Bird a lot some years ago, so picked up this expecting something decent. It's apparently an early work, and although there's some facility with handling a fractured narrative time scheme the story itself is just cliché-ridden bollocks.

[OmniBen · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 1.5/5
"The best graphic novel of the year. This is a brilliant book" says the big, bold quote on the back.
I'm guessing that whoever was responsible for that didn't read many books that year, or maybe was struck blind on January 2nd, after finishing this one, and hadn't learnt brail before the year was out. Solstice is not the best of anything, except possibly for a muddled narrative, one dimensional, boring characters and wildly varying art.
The basic premise, a dislikeable, overbearing father's pursuit of the fountain of youth with his long suffering son. I knew none of this going in, being drawn in by the bold claim on the back and its relatively cheap cover price for an OHC book. I have mentioned how much I despise unwarranted praise on books before, but this one may just take the cake.
The narrative is an absolute mess, jumping around the vague timeline for no other reason, save it would have somehow been even more boring if it was told in a more straightforward fashion. The characters are shallow, unlikeable and about as engaging as a cannibals invitation to dinner. The father, the most prominent character in the book, is not only thoroughly unlikeable, in a very unlikeable way, but is more 'all over the place' than a monkeys shit at the zoo. The author piles poorly executed negative trait on top of poorly executed negative trait, without anything even close to approaching an arc, and expects the reader to actually give half a shit about him at the conclusion of the story. The son is unlikeable, although for different reasons. He's spineless and weak, without the narrative impetus or empathy to pull it off. Everyone else featured in the book is varying shades of bad. A messy mess, executed messily.
The art varies from passable to middling. Character models vary wildly from panel to panel, let alone page to page. I get that this is the artists style, but then again, with a story this bad, The art needs to do a lot more of the heavy lifting. Instead, I just kept finding more things to pick at.
At least this didn't go for very long, so I could finish it quickly, then hastily forget it ever existed. Apparently this guy help create Ben10, so I'm sure he's not exactly hurting for cheddar. Its lucky too, because if this is the kind of work he churns out, he would certainly have difficulty keeping the lights on as far a I'm concerned. Not good. 1.5/5


OmniBen.

[Lydia Granda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a graphic novel who's story line is an overbearing, dying rich man taking his son on a search for the fountain of youth as told through the son's eyes.
I usually don't read graphic novel, but I won this in a giveaway, Thank YOU, but I eventually found it gripping and a great new way for me to read. The story is a bit difficult to follow due to the writing style which I found to be quite different. The illustrations are great and eventually the story line gripped me, but I still wish it would have had a better flow. The ending was uneventful.

[Cara · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fountain of youth search seems a bit old school, so maybe kids could enjoy this too, but no - dad prostituting his son out, murder, abortion, yeah it would be more ok if it were more meaningful or necessary to the plot.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A stand alone graphic novel about a boy's relationship with his father more so than their search for the Fountain of Youth. The disorganized thoughts of the narrator lead to a choppy story but the unique artistic choices for each adventure make it worth a look through.

[Eileen]

centers around a narcissistic megalomanic father and his traumatized son more than the historical or archeological aspects of the fountain of youth. would have liked the writing and the art better on a different topic.

[Highland G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable story that had very interesting fun narration throughout.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The search for the fountain of truth leads to an eternal truth and it was staring us in the face.

[Paul Allard · Rating 3 out of 5]

An obsessive search for the Fountain of Youth

Seen through the eyes of his son, a rich man dying of cancer searches for the Fountain of Youth, whatever the cost to his family and other people. It takes them to Chile, Siberia, Egypt following clues and maps.

Too many flashbacks to different times break up the continuity and the flow. Quite a good story but I did not find it as brilliant as some of the blurb. Well-illustrated.

[Ficie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting writing style. The abundant use of flashbacks makes the story more engaging, and gives interesting insights into the mental state of the main character / narrator.
The ending is, however, quite underwhelming- not on par with the rest of the story.

[Carla A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad, kind of a slow starter but about 1/4 of the way in I was hooked.

[Lena · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would not recommend this book. The plot was jumpy and I didn't find myself captivated by the quest for the fountain. The characters were terrible, uninteresting, or both. The illustrations were meh. You will feel bad for reading it because of tragic plot events, but the events are conveyed so tritely that they lose meaning. Skip this.