Turf

Turf #1-5

by Jonathan Ross

New York, 1929: the height of prohibition. Gangs fall like bloody dominos as the mysterious Dragonmir family fights to rule the city and begin to wake the Old One - a gigantic sleeping vampire buried amongst the roots of their mansion. But an unlikely alliance formed between tough guy Eddie Falco and a stranded space-alien known as Squeed leads to an uneasy stalemate. Meanwhile, a strong-willed young reporter, dirty cops and ousted Harlem racketeers all try to survive in the middle of the maelstrom, and it''s anyone''s guess who''s going to win the battle for this particular slice of turf.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Horror, Vampires, Science Fiction, Crime, Historical Fiction

200 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 2, 2011

Reviews

[Shadowdenizen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but not quite what I had hoped for given the premise.
(But, on the plus side, I got this for super-cheap at my local Comic Stores "1/2 Off" special sale!)

[Juho Pohjalainen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've picked up a habit of only giving a cursory glance at the cover or blurb of a story before diving in, and this is the kind of a story where it pays off: I thought I was getting a supernatural film noir about vampires and gangsters, and then on the next page suddenly there's an alien spaceship! That got me on board pretty well. Had I known more from the start, I'd not have gotten as surprised and thrilled.

Shame it couldn't keep up.

There were many places it could have taken its premise. It could have been a glorious three-way free-for-all, with vampires and aliens duking it out and the gangsters just trying to survive in the middle. Or the vampires might have teamed up with the humans against the even more strange and unknown and outside-context threat. Instead the one lone alien ended up teaming up with a human, for reasons I never quite figured out, and did not play nearly as much of a part in the story as I'd have hoped: sure, he supplied some firepower and helped push the main character's arc along, but he still felt like a third wheel. There could have been more of his kind dropping down, more chaos, more distrust, more moral greys. Alas.

And even that little wasn't told all too well. The characters were for the most part dull and two-dimensional (with your obligatory vampire-wannabe traitors and undead-boy/human-girl romance), the artwork wasn't all that good and the characters expressionless, the vampires floating around always looking dumb and taking me out of the story... and worst of all, the writing. This one really needed a competent editor, someone to chop up two thirds of the words used. Walls of text, exposition, long-winded dialogue. So much was spoken, so little said.

So it wasn't ever that bad, any terribly offensive or hideous or idiotic, but it promised a lot and delivered little. Not my thing.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Vampires in prohibition-era New York sounded like an awesome if goofy concept for a graphic novel, but I couldn't shake the feeling that this story was taking itself way too seriously for the subject matter. Could have used more zaniness, especially when the aliens showed up. And maybe fewer cliché Eastern European villains?

[RND · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I like Edwards' art, it does have a tendency to be flat and stiff. It's pretty to look at and well-designed, but not alive. While this is a dense book, there are so many disparate elements: aliens, vampires, tucked into a mob story; Ross isn't able to make it cohere as nicely or as elegantly or as satisfyingly as I'd like.

[Michael J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do enjoy a genre-blender of a story and this one is a winner, combining crime with horror and science fiction. The setting is New York City, during the 1920's prohibition era when organized crime runs the illegal alcohol business and private membership clubs catering to the elite who need a drink.

Enter a European family of vampires who purchase a mansion in the city and proceed to horn in on the mobsters, eliminating them to take over their business as part of their bigger plan to turn the city into vampire nation. The police force are either in the pockets of the mob, or under the influence of the vampires - - so they won't be of much help. There's an uneasy alliance between the Harlem racketeers and a crime family.

Enter the alien with high tech weaponry, who crash landed his ship just outside of Coney Island. A friendship is struck between the alien and gang boss Eddie Falco after they nearly kill each other.

Jonathan Ross does a commendable job of juggling these balls and scripting an engaging action-adventure. Many of the characters are stereotypical of the early pulps of the day. However, Ross takes a core of characters and develops them a bit further, giving readers a reason to care and somebody to root for: the vampire Dragonmir brothers, the reluctant mobster Eddie Falco, the determined news reporter Susie Randall.

There are also several Easter eggs within that name-drop pop culture references, most notably Italian horror film director Mario Bava.

[Dávid Novotný · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixing prohibition, gangs, and vampires sounded interesting. But adding aliens was just too much. Whole book is wild mix, story doesn't hold together well and whole idea is buried in too many layers.

Art was nice, sketchy, and really helped to create that prohibition mafia vibe, but it just wasn't enough...

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I tried really, really hard to like this one, but it just didn't do much for me.

The concept is ridiculously awesome. It starts out like a Depression-era gangster story, replete with hoods and crooked cops. Vampires show up at the next step out of the gate, and just as we're getting comfortable with that, the narrative shifts to outer space, with an alien fugitive on a crash course towards Earth. While the vampires attempt to fulfill an ancient prophecy, a gangster with a heart of gold teams up with the inscrutable alien to defend New York City.

On the surface, this seems like everything I would want. There were too many seams for me, though. The plucky reporter that begins the story falls into a very predictable story niche, which ultimately goes nowhere. Dragomir is a good choice for the name of the vampire scion family only if Draculafang was your alternative choice. The story is fun, but hard to follow and full of holes. Edwards' character art is gritty and attractive, but some panels were so confusing that I literally didn't understand what had happened, even after spending some time going back for a second look.

The thing is, Ross builds a world with a lot of promise. Squeed, in particular, has a tantalizing backstory that doesn't get the attention I would have liked it to. A human-vampire-alien turf war set in the 1920s is such a frigging cool idea that I enjoyed reading it despite my complaints.

I wish this one would have baked a little longer. I finished it feeling like it was merely okay, when it had the potential to be great. If nothing else, though, it's a quirky and diverting read that's worth a look for sci-fi readers.

[Jamil · Rating 2 out of 5]

if only it had lived up to ...

too many vampires, not enough alien/American Gangster love...

("I've seen the best minds of my generation destroyed by Twilight...")

I'm a sucka for the alien/monster in a trench coat gag too,



but not this much of a sucker.

[Olu Babarinde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would not have believed Jonathan Ross was a good writer if I did not read Turf. Ross seamlessly merges genres in this book. If you're looking for escapism this is it!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book I thought it was really well paced and exciting. Completely mad also, obviously.

[Adrian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much has been written of the brutal wars that raged during those long years of prohibition. Great fortunes were made by those who were prepared to break every law and service their fellow man's appetite for alcohol... Drugs... Flesh, territories were fought over ruthlessly, and to protect their piece of turf, violence was met with ever greater violence. Men killed... and were killed.

But for a short and bloody period, the mobs that ran riot in Manhattan faced a far more terrifying threat than other men with guns in their hands and greed in their hearts.

They faced... The fangs of New York!

I picked this up alongside The Damned, Vol. 1: Three Days Dead due to the similar themes of a supernatural twist on the gang wars of prohibition London.

This oversized book promised a lot, being written by the Talk Show host and comic book aficionado, Jonathan Ross.

The initial premise, with one criminal family being a dynasty of vampires, works well. However we are then suddenly presented with Alien smugglers who crash land in New York.

It all gets rather muddled between trying to be a science fiction, a supernatural horror, and a classic noir gangster story, and a cross-species buddy romance.

I couldn't quite get into it and it was a struggle to finish off. It teases a possible continuation but I can see why it never happened. 2 1/2 stars.

[Jake Benson · Rating 3 out of 5]

An amazing concept and gorgeously drawn, even better with the addition of ACTUAL dialogue compared to the 3 words a page/all-action modern comic publishers seem obsessed with these days. It lacks a lot of good depth to its characters, but its setting and grounding was fantastic!

As a first outing for Jonathan Ross, it's great fun...and clearly a passion for him!

[M.i. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice art. Not a very effective story unfortunately

[Lukas Holmes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent. A bit confusing at times art wise but a fun story. Did always think the violence was necessary story wise.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent effort, carried by its great concepts: fusing gangsters, vampires and aliens. I’d definitely read more of this

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a mix of story themes that should not work, but creates a fun blend of gangster, science fiction, and horror themes that works great together in a fun way for fans of those genres.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

First thought was Jonathan Ross, errr, maybe not..

Second thought was, the idea behind the story was definitely a YES, YES, YES

Third thought was, the price and another definite YES.

2 v 1, so book bought.

Then book read.

And now 3 v 0. Sorry JR, I should never have doubted you. Yes you annoy me at times on TV, but in book form you are a winner.

And the artwork was great (as expected).

Don't be like me, don't have doubts. Get yourself a copy, and enjoy.

[Marco Mancinelli · Rating 5 out of 5]

New York, proibizionismo, gangster, vampiri e alieni. Se vi state chiedendo dove è possibile trovare queste cose tutte insieme contemporaneamente, vi dico che potete smettere di domandarvelo. La risposta è una sola: Turf.

Partiamo dagli autori, Edwards e Ross. Gli amanti del fumetto, soprattutto quello targato Marvel, non dovrebbero avere troppi problemi nel riconoscere il nome di uno dei più capaci disegnatori, che ha dato forma e sostanza ad eroi come Spiderman e Capitan America (cito solo questi, ma potete andare a buttare un occhio alla pagina wikipedia di Marvel 1985, tanto per fare un esempio). Ma anche gli amanti del cinema d’azione potrebbero riconoscere facilmente il nome di Tommy Lee Edwards visto che ha collaborato alla realizzazione di diversi film, tra cui Batman Begins e Men in Black II. In realtà Edwards ha prestato la sua arte anche al mondo dei videogiochi. Insomma, parliamo di un artista che vanta un curriculum di tutto rispetto.

Altra faccenda invece per Jonathan Ross. Qui in Italia è abbastanza sconosciuto, ma, se andate in Inghilterra, vi diranno che lui è quello che ha inventato il talk show. Diciamo che Ross è il Letterman europeo. Nella sua carriera ha intervistato praticamente chiunque goda di un briciolo di notorietà. E’ un tipico animale da palcoscenico: spigliato, divertente e irriverente. Ma è anche qualcosa di più. Ross è un appassionato di fumetti praticamente da sempre. Vanta una collezione sconfinata di tavole originali, sicuramente la più grande del Regno Unito, ma qualcuno sostiene del mondo. Se andate a casa sua e gli chiedete un titolo a caso, lui potrebbe avere tutta la collezione completa.

Turf nasce dalla collaborazione di questi due personaggi tanto eclettici. Ross scrive la sua storia, la storia che aveva dentro da una vita ed Edwards gli rende onore con dei disegni che lasciano a bocca aperta. Realizzano e pubblicano nell’arco di circa un anno 5 numeri del loro fumetto, che oggi noi possiamo acquistare e leggere in un unico volume edito dalla Panini Comics.

Passiamo alla storia. Siamo a New York nel 1929 in pieno proibizionismo. La città è territorio dichiarato delle gang che se la sono spartita, mentre la polizia intasca mazzette per guardare da una parte che non sia quella dei traffici illeciti che animano i sobborghi della Grande Mela. C’è la giornalista a caccia di gloria e di guai che prova a fare lo scoop della sua vita, c’è il gangster che si sente più gangster degli altri e prova ad eliminare la concorrenza, c’è il poliziotto psicopatico alleato con i cattivi. Solo che i cattivi non sono quelli della malavita, ma una famiglia piuttosto allargata di origine europea: i Dragonmir, antica stirpe di Strigoli (una specie di vampiri) che vogliono soggiogare la razza umana e stanno aspettando solo il tempo necessario per organizzarsi. Mentre la tensione cresce in città, direttamente da un altro pianeta piomba sulla Terra, schiantandosi nei pressi di Coney Island, Squeed un alieno in fuga dai suoi simili con un carico di temibili armi extraterrestri. A questo punto inizia la corsa alle alleanze, più o meno forzate. Perché è chiaro che sta per avere luogo una battaglia e solo i più forti e meglio organizzati riusciranno a prendere il sopravvento.
Questo è Turf. Questo e molto altro. Leggendo le bellissime tavole illustrate da Edwards con i verbosissimi balloon richiesti dall’equilibrata e mai scontata sceneggiatura di Ross, viene da chiedersi se si ha per le mani un noir, un horror, o un fantasy. Alla fine della lettura, quando si arriva alla conclusione, si rimane con lo stesso dubbio, ma anche con la certezza di aver assaporato una storia scritta e disegnata con un entusiasmo che solo un vero amante dei fumetti può permettersi e riesce a trasmettere.

[Morgan Welch · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this on a car boot and the cover art for issue one really drew me in. I had no idea it was by Jonathon Ross until later, and that does explain some things.

Although I really enjoyed it overall, it's a bit heavy on the exposition - comic writers are usually incredibly skilled at conveying information mainly from dialogue. This does an OK job, but the level of skill I've come to expect isn't quite there. That said, this is a very successful and enjoyable short series. It has a very Batman feel, despite not being Batman. The vampires and alien elements help make it so it's not too derivative.

The art is glorious throughout.

If that was all, I'd give it four stars. However, there's one panel in issue three that has questionable depictions of black people. That page harks back to the art styles of early cartoons to show a flashback and demonstrate the character's racism, but I felt this was unnecessary and insensitive.

[Simon Gosden · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not a great fan of graphic novels and this one explains why. Great idea of Vampires taking over New York in the 1930's, crooked cops, speakeasys, gangsters and an alien space ship crash landing nearby. Great art work as well but the whole thing takes about 30 minutes to read. If it was a novel it would be a 5 day job. It's a ripping yarn but.......

[zaCk S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Prohibition-era gangsters versus vampires. NYC thugs plus aliens. It's a great idea that rushes through to the end so quickly that it's over before you even get a chance to care about any of the characters. While the art is fantastic, it's rendered dull by the erratic pacing which deadens every attempt at humor. Shame.

[David Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Ross nailed this genre mash up,it would have been so easy for this to have turned out a dogs dinner but 'Ross ties all the different genres up nicely,also his love of film is all throughout this book,whith all the chapters (I think)being a play on film titles,for example the first chapter which is titled 'Fangs of New York'.Really good book!

[Jon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't expecting the way this book panned out but it was a pleasant surprise. It was well thought out and the characters felt real. The art work is great and really adds to the feel of the story. My only criticism was that it felt a little short.

[Hillingdon Libraries]

Find this book at Hillingdon Libraries

[Tate Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art and colour is very well done. A book with big ideas but ultimately leaving you empty and unsatisfied by the end of it, not dissimilar to junk food. Tempted to give it one more star for some of the great drawings within.

[PJ Ebbrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an OK book, mainly getting two stars for the concept and the art. At times the panels were over crowded with words and stopping the story flowing. One to get out of the library.

[Russell Berg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had some promise as a vampire story set in 30's gangland New York but devolves into chaos and easy resolution.

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gangsters and aliens vs. vampires. Nice pastiche.
Liked very much the tribute to director Mario Bava and the old-style-comic page showing the past life of cop O'Leary :)

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Odd combination of gangsters, vampires and aliens. A fun story, but I'm not a fan of Tommy Lee Edwards' artwork. Worth a read though.

[Thongglomeration]

not very good