Leviathan

by Ian Edginton, D'Israeli (Illustrator)

In 1928 the largest cruise liner the world has ever seen is launched. With a crew and passenger complement totalling nearly 30,000 people the Leviathan is bound for New York. However, it never reaches the Big Apple and simply... disappears! Twenty years later - with the Leviathan stranded on an unearthly sea - Detective Sergeant Lament begins to investigate the mystery at the liner's heart. What he discovers will change his world forever - but it might just bring the Leviathan home...

From the creators of Scarlet Traces and The Great Game comes a unique story that will continue to haunt the reader long after the last page has been turned!

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction, Fantasy, Graphic Novels Comics, Crime

120 pages, Hardcover

First published October 15, 2006

About the author

Edginton sees part of the key to his success coming from good relationships with artists, especially D'Israeli and Steve Yeowell as well as Steve Pugh and Mike Collins. He is best known for his steampunk/alternative history work (often with the artist D'Israeli) and is the co-creator of Scarlet Traces, a sequel to their adaptation of H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds. With 2000 AD we has written Leviathan, Stickleback and, with art by Steve Yeowell, The Red Seas as well as one-off serials such as American Gothic (2005).

His stories often have a torturous gestation. Scarlet Traces was an idea he had when first reading The War of the Worlds, its first few instalments appeared on Cool Beans website, before being serialised in the Judge Dredd Megazine. Also The Red Seas was initially going to be drawn by Phil Winslade and be the final release by Epic but Winslade was still tied up with Goddess and when ideas for replacement artists were rejected Epic was finally wound up - the series only re-emerging when Edginton was pitching ideas to Matt Smith at the start of his 2000 AD career.

With D'Israeli he has created a number of new series including Stickleback, a tale of a strange villain in an alternative Victorian London, and Gothic, which he describes as "Mary Shelley's Doc Savage". With Simon Davis he recently worked on a survival horror series, Stone Island, and he has also produced a comic version of the computer game Hellgate: London with Steve Pugh.

He is currently working on a dinosaurs and cowboys story called Sixgun Logic. Also as part of Top Cow's Pilot Season he has written an Angelus one-shot.

http://comicbookdb.com/creator.php?ID...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Edgi...

Reviews

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Update - always the danger when you try and sort out your books that you invariably come across a title (however old or new) that you just have to open up and take another look at - which as things always do leads from one thing to another and at the end you find yourself having read it all over again.

My opinion of the book has not really changed from the last time I read it although after re-reading the introduction I find myself agreeing with the comments that it is the monochrome artwork which really gives this tale its punch - like the Stickleback series the artwork gives the characters depth (ironic really considering there are literally only 2 colour present).

So yes I do not regret spending time to read this book again and you know what I am sure I will fall foul of reading it again in the future too!


I think ever since I picked up (totally randomly) a copy of Ian Edginton's Stickleback I have been a fan of his work - and the fact that the creative team of Edginton and d'Israeli are back together for this project just makes it all the more appealing - I cannot wait to see the next instalment of their Scarlet Traces series,

So what about this book- well to be honest its hard to explain anything without giving away the plot since it starts pretty much from the second page - and for a graphic novel thats pretty fast going.

The Leviathan is truly massive ship however all is not as it seems and what you have here is a mystery that just seems to get more and more involved in true style of the books of Ian Edginton.

So in short another great books which does not disappoint - my only wish would be that it were longer as the ideas presented in the main story have so much potential and the fact that you have a number of short specials clearly show that.

In fact this is a world I could easily see being returned to however I suspect that other projects and time will put pay to that but we can wait and see (like the hope of another Stickleback book).

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

A murder mystery in a locked room type situation, with a supernatural twist. Although Hell is encased in a boat, it in itself is not caused by the abnormal circumstances which keep everyone trapped, but is caused by the people themselves. The passengers have degraded to the level of the worst aspects of humanity, they show little compassion for others, and drown themselves in debauchery. This may be an attempt to stay sane, and others have lowered themselves out of desperation, but it is still their depravity which has sunk them into this state of madness.
With an area the size of a small city, there are many places a murderer can hide, and it is up to detective Lament to find him, and to possibly discover the mystery behind this ghost ship which should've run out of fuel long ago. Lament is an honest fellow, and has some sense of justice still, so he goes below to find the answers.
At this point everything goes downhill, the story idea is good, but the execution is done to quickly. There are sudden scene jumps, the mystery is solved almost immediately, not to mention it is all just handed to him in one speech, and none of the characters are given a chance to grow in the least. This could have turned out an excellent commentary on human nature, yet nothing is learned in the end. It doesn't even go indepth into the wickedness of humans. For some reason there are also several variations to the art style used, and they do not fit together.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Originally serialized in the legendary British comics magazine 2000 AD, Leviathan reveals the fascinating, tragic tale of the eponymous cruise liner, the largest ever built. Carrying a crew and passenger complement numbering closing to 30,000 people, the ship disappeared in 1928 on its maiden voyage. Twenty years later with the Leviathan lost in an undead sea, a complex social strata develops under the command of a powerful aristocratic cabal. The group summons Lament, a detective sergeant back in the real world, to investigate a series of grisly murders. He uncovers the secret of the Leviathan and possibly a way home. Though hampered by a reveal steeped in clichés, the talented team of Edginton and D'Israeli produce an engaging enough tale to overlook such foibles. D'Israeli expertly renders the Leviathan as both massive and confining. Edginton manages to make his archetypical characters interesting. This volume contains the main lengthy story plus four short stories that explore other happenings aboard the Leviathan. Sample script pages and an artist sketchbook round out the book.

[Sezer Turgay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bu yıl muhtemelen okuduğum/okuyacağım en yaratıcı kitaplardan ufak bir evrende bu kadar güzel hikaye anlatması takdiri hak ediyor noir işleri seven herkes bir şans vermeli gerilim ve gizem çok kısa olmasına rağmen gayet güzel.

[Abu Syed sajib · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting start but after that it's typical storytelling.....

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume collects together four stories based on the Leviathan, a cruise liner of epic proportions matched only by the ego of its creator and designer, Sir William Ashbless. The first story, Leviathan, tells of the liner 20 years into its voyage and a series of gruesome murders. Detective Sergeant Lament is called to investigate and in doing so he uncovers the reasons behind the liner's extended voyage. The remaining three stories, Chosen Son, McLean's Last Case and Beyond the Blue Horizon, are shorter and all based before the events of the first story. These three give an insight into how the liner functions as a floating city lost at sea and how it got there. These a four great stories brilliantly illustrated in black, white and grey adding to the sense of doom and foreboding that permeates each story, the characters and the ship itself. An excellent collection and I am definitely going to look out for more by this author.

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting graphic novel that seemed to combine elements from the video game Bioshock, the TV show Lost, the Cthulhu Mythos, and of course, the movie Titanic, into an effective if not completely cohesive mix. While its conflation of the Lovecraftian alien being Hastur as a "demon" from a Christian "Hell" isn't really to my taste, I loved the setting of a huge city-like ship mysteriously cut adrift in time, its passengers attempting to survive in any way they can. Consisting of a few short stories set on the Leviathan, the world's largest ship launched from England for New York in 1928 that finds itself cut adrift from reality, with no sign of land for twenty years, I can certainly see it as a rich setting for future tales.

[Konstantinos Mindcrimek · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Είμαστε ολομόναχοι, ούτε στεριά, ούτε ζωή, ούτε τίποτα…”

1928 και το τεράστιο υπερωκεάνιο Λεβιάθαν ξεκινά το παρθενικό του ταξίδι για το Νέο Κόσμο. Με μήκος ένα μίλι (!) κουβαλά πάνω του μία ολόκληρη πόλη. Το πρόβλημα είναι πως 20 χρόνια αργότερα δεν έχει φτάσει ακόμα στον προορισμό του και οι 30.000 ψυχές δεν πιστεύουν πως θα συμβεί ποτέ έχοντας χάσει κάθε ελπίδα. Στην ουσία η ιστορία του βιβλίου ξεκινά κάπου εκεί, ενώ το πλοίο βολοδέρνει χαμένο αλλά τουλάχιστον φαίνεται πως έχουν λύσει ζητήματα όπως το φαγητό αφού υπάρχουν βοτανικοί κήποι με καλλιέργειες και ζωολογικοί κήποι με ζώα αν και υπάρχουν απορίες για άλλα πρακτικά ζητήματα (τα καύσιμα έπρεπε να είχαν εξαντληθεί προ πολλού).

“ήθελε το ταξίδι να τους μείνει αξέχαστο”

Από την άλλη οι ταξικές διαφορές είναι εμφανείς στα μέρη και πράγματα που έχουν πρόσβαση ανάλογα με το εισιτήριο του καθενός ενώ κανείς δεν προσεγγίζει τους θερμαστές στο χώρο των μηχανών. Το θέμα είναι ότι έχουν αρχίσει να συμβαίνουν πολλές περίεργες αυτοκτονίες ή πιο σωστά ανεξιχνίαστες δολοφονίες που έχουν τρομάξει πολλούς και κυρίως κάποιους από τους υπεύθυνους του πλοίου οι οποίοι θα καλέσουν έναν 60άρη ντετέκτιβ. Αυτός αναλαμβάνει να ψάξει τι συμβαίνει και κατεβαίνοντας στην καρδιά του “κτήνους” θα ανακαλύψει πολλά περισσότερα και θα αλλάξει η μοίρα για όλους…

“…μα όπως ξέρουμε στο πλοίο δεν αρέσει να αποκαλύπτονται τα μυστικά του”

Το ασπρόμαυρο σκίτσο του D’Israeli είναι απόλυτα ταιριαστό με το mood και την ατμόσφαιρα που θέλει να πετύχει. Η ιδέα του concept είναι έξυπνη και συνδυάζει πολλά πράγματα, από την ιστορία του Τιτανικού μέχρι σειρές τύπου “Lost”. Ένα μικρό παράπονο είναι πως η ιστορία προχωρά πολύ γρήγορα με αποτέλεσμα να μην αναπτύσσεται ολοκληρωμένα κανένας χαρακτήρας και όλα πάνε σε fast forward. Αν ήταν σε παραπάνω συνέχειες όπως μια τηλεοπτική σειρά θα έβγαζε παραπάνω ζουμί νομίζω, κάτι που γίνεται ξεκάθαρο με τις τρεις μικρότερες σε μέγεθος side stories στο τέλος του βιβλίου οι οποίες τοποθετούνται χρονικά πριν τα γεγονότα της κύριας ιστορίας. Θα είχαν έτσι τη δυνατότητα να φωτίσουν πράγματα.

Ενδιαφέρον παρουσιάζει και το παράρτημα με τα αρχικά προσχέδια που είχαν στείλει οι δημιουργοί σε εκδοτικούς με σχόλια πάνω στο πως φανταζόντουσαν αρχικά κάποια πράγματα (πχ ο Edginton σκεφτόταν ακόμα μεγαλύτερο μέγεθος, να φτάνει τα δέκα μίλια αλλά τον έπεισε ο D’Israeli πως τότε θα έμοιαζε με νησί).

[Bracicot · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting is great, and they explore it in a couple of different interesting ways: by implication (what do you eat when your city-sized ocean liner has been lost at sea for 20 years? Well, you DID have a zoo...); by social stratum (how do things differ for people in first class versus steerage?); and directly, by having someone visit many areas.

It masquerades as a detective story, but the investigation doesn't really involve much investigating (no magnifying glass, no fingerprints or scraps of torn fabric, no bits of newsprint extracted from under the victim's fingernails, no one wrapped in plastic): instead the detective simply follows leads to The Horror.

This could easily have suffered from Noir Douchebag Syndrome, because of the period and genre, but most of the characters offer just enough good nature to keep me on board. I didn't find myself saying "wow - haven't you been shot yet?" about any of the characters.

[Sriram K R · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Make no mistake Detective, this is hell. Contrary to scripture and rote, hell is not about fiery imps jabbing sinners with pitchforks. That's just for the tourists.

Hell is an absence of hope"

Extremely well written and the art is spectacular. Described by the author himself as "The Shining but the Overlook is a ship", which is pretty accurate. An unlikely hero and a terrifying monster. Worth your attention if you love noir and horror and fantastic art.

[Neville Wylie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I expected so much more from this after reading some of the reviews here, the premise is interesting but the story seems very rushed and not really fleshed out too well. Because everything just happened so quickly id no care for any of the characters... ill give it some stars cause I did like the art it suited that kind of story.

[Kris Shaw · Rating 3 out of 5]

The gist- What if the Titanic were bigger, grander, and were lost at sea rather than sunk by an iceberg? What would the thousands of people on a ship that is basically a city on the water resort to once that realization set in? These are the questions Leviathan poses. The concept is great, and they really could have done so much more with it. It's a solid read, but nothing exceptional.

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant piece of steampunk horror, with the art going hog-wild on the vast ocean liner that's been crossing the Atlantic for twenty years in a hopeless limbo. A passenger who used to be a detective is conscripte to investiagte grisly murders in First Class, heading down into the dangerous depths of steerage and the engine room to dscover the terrible truth. Spectacular ending.

[Sheldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A massive boat the size of a city sets off on its maiden voyage, 20 years later it is still at sea seemingly no end in sight.

Brilliant high concept, this setting would make an excellent movie or video game.

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. A good & fairly original story, beautifully drawn, though rather short. Would have benefited from a longer ending, instead of some exposition-heavy reveal.

Read as collected in the 2000ad Ultimate Collection #120.

[Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

7.5/10

[Moe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad art, uninteresting characters.

[ThomyZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a fan of the artwork, but the scenario is intriguing. Sadly, the plot turns out to be rather convential.

[Anandaroop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Promising premise, great art.
Turned out to be run-of-the-mill horror fare, pity.

[Eran Amir · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark and fun, entertaining read.

[Erik B.K.K. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cool concept, starts of pretty good, but man what a trash story and lame ending. Shame.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: I love the lost ship, The Flying Dutchman, type of ghost story. Obviously there is a "Titanic" feel to it and I liked the appeal of a cross between crime and horror. Pretty much just had to read it after seeing the book!

One of my favourite graphic novels of the year and quite apropos that I read it shortly after reading an anthology of early 19th century ghost stories. This just fit my mood at the time so well. First of all the book contains the main story "Leviathan" which ran in over 10 issues of "2000AD" plus also includes 3 later published graphic short stories which take place sometime during the original main story. An absolutely fantastic, creepy, haunting, paranormal tale of a ship lost in Limbo for twenty years and the discovering of what has been keeping it there. The investigation by a former Scotland Yard detective of a series of atrocious First Class murders brings to a head the evil that is hiding (well-not really hiding anymore, eh?) deep inside the ship. This story is first-rate. The illustration, done in black & white is outstanding. This type of horror, for me, needs the finesse b/w adds to the grotesquerie when our minds are allowed to imagine the colour of the blood and gore rather than being blasted with it in full-colour. The demon's first appearance in the book is an amazing feat of awesomeness. One is stunned. I am so glad I've found this team of writer/author; they have done other work together which I want to explore. The three short stories are also fine examples of horror stories and take us back to the days when the ship is lost and introduce a few tales of events that happened, now that we know what was really going on there. I loved this and will probably read it again in the future. A Keeper for me!

[Hollowspine · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting, adventure filled journey aboard 'the floating city.'

The story begins with mysterious murders happening among the first class citizens of the Leviathan, a ship so large it is compared to a city. To solve the murders the Captain calls forth second class passenger and police detective, Lament, to catch the criminal.

However, there are other mysteries, such as why the Leviathan has yet to reach land although it has been underway for over 20 years. And the fact that in all that time they've never run out of fuel. Those in the steerage claim that the deaths and other strange doings are the acts of the Stokers, nightmare fuel they use to scare children. After all no one has heard from the engine room for a long long time.

I enjoyed the story, though like others I felt that there were many more stories left untold. I was less than fond of the comparison of Hastur to some Christian demon though. Perhaps that is all that humanity can fathom when face to face with a great old one, but I thought that Hastur with satyr legs was a bit much.

My favorite story was McLean's Last Case. I would have liked to see more explorations of the mysterious ship similar to that.

Overall an enjoyable read, would look forward to more on the Leviathan in future.

[Thurston Hunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I can see why others would have liked more, I wonder if more would have felt like the anecdotal Amelia Earhardy tacked on as one of bonus rounds. Interesting but not essential (nor the brew from beyond or below story of Maclean.) Anyways, I think less was more for this, albeit in a vast setting.

One of my 10 year old boys read it and liked it, but I sense it was a little heavy in the macabre, gore and in the existential departments for him. Still the realization of Hastur is fascinating artistically, as he agreed. The other boy didn't really want to read it after perusing some of the pages, despite the fact that I told him it had Cthulhu Cthonnections. He does have more of the "true believer" gene, which serves him well in other areas where the imagination treads less dark waters.

Well, I definitely dug it, complete with hard-boiled detective and echoes of Sartre's "No Exit" and/or the movie the Cube. (Well those echoes are admittedly distant, but came to my mind.).

This was my first "voyage" with Edginton, and it was both all too brief and eternal, so hence I averaged the values and came up with just right.

I suspect fans of the more popular Alan Moore would do well to embark upon this read as well.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the setting. It's an odd mash up of alternate history and horror story. An interesting city in a ship idea. In a way it reminded me of the video game Bioshock. Both stories tell the tales of lavish cities isolated from the world.
My one complaint (if you can even call it that) is the story wasn't long enough. I realize the original story was published in serialized form so there were space considerations. I would have loved to seen more of the way the passengers/citizens organized to survive in the netherworld in which they find themselves. I think there is a lot of more of the story that can be explored and developed. Really though, this isn't as much a complaint as my wishing the story went on. As with all good stories, you wish it could go on for a while longer. Definitely a fun read for me.

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of a ship that is large enough to be a floating city becoming trapped in some vague netherworld is somewhat interesting, but this graphic novel is too limited in scope to do anything engaging with it. The main plot is a boilerplate "bad guy with trapped demon that wants its freedom" tale, and while there are some vaguely interesting setpieces and people that show up the story seemed to be in too much of a rush to get to its predictable conclusion to pay them any mind. None of the characters get developed, 99% of the ship goes unexplored, there's nothing original in what we actually do see, and the supplemental short stories at the end of the book don't add anything useful.


* In this case, the "demon" is actually some combination of demon and a boring Lovecraft thingy.

[Sage LaTorra · Rating 4 out of 5]

It left we wanting more. That's both what got in 4 stars and what kept it from 5. There was a lot more that could have been done with the basic idea, and the short stories at the back add some of that, but I ended up almost wanting this to be an ongoing (or at least a long limited series, like Ex Machina). More!

[Norman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book which could have gone horribly wrong (see 'X'ed' by Charles Burns). The art suits the topic wonderfully and the story had me guessing all the way. Wierd, but readable and 'fun' comics

Imagine a ship so big that when you stand on deck and look down on it you see the skyline of a city

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Jim Simpson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a quick read about a massive, city-sized ship lost at sea for decades, and all the mystery, mythology, and murder that goes into it. It blends elements from history, other fiction, religion, and adventure into a compelling, and sometimes funny story.