Two Roads Diverge

Southland Tales #1

by Richard Kelly, Brett Weldele (Illustrations)

June 30 2008. One of the world's most famous actors has disappeared. Boxer Santaros awakens deep in the Nevada desert... alone, stricken with amnesia. He is rescued by a drifter named Fortunio Balducci, only to discover that the world around him has suddenly changed. America now stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster... approaching the three-year anniversary of dual nuclear attacks on Texas soil. As Boxer struggles to regain his memory, his paths cross with a mysterious adult film star named Krysta now at the Nevada/California state line. Krysta reveals her psychic abilities to Boxer in the form of a prophetic screenplay that foreshadows the apocalypse...

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Fiction, Sequential Art, Dystopia

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 12, 2006

Reviews

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 4 out of 5]

...все равно история про актера-попаданца (хотя контрамотом ему бы пошло больше) начинается с полпинка и полуфразы и сразу в нее начинает путаться метатекст, но нарисовано красиво, а диалоги даже местами смешные. история, конечно, обретает какую-то плоть. но главное - персонажи не очень похожи на киношных, потому что глядеть на Дуэйна Скалу Джонсона в роли нежного и нервного интеллектуала, прямо скажем, невыносимо. здесь он скорее трепетный итальянец.

[Tom · Rating 1 out of 5]

Slightly better than the film, in as much as you don't have to listen to the execrable dialogue. Can almost see some glimmers of an interesting premise, but really, life's too short.

[Romano]

Respeto lo que Richard Kelly trato de hacer en su proyecto multimedia. Entiendo que hay obras que demandan mucho de sus lectores y el proyecto de Southland Tales es uno de ellas. Me resulta complicado emitir un juicio de valor al respecto. El texto de Kelly es denso en contenido pero paradójicamente vacuo en temas, lo que refleja que Kelly es una especie de exponente de un mundo que ya no existe, una América en que la preocupación principal era el evitar el conformismo suburbano. Una de las principales virtudes de leer Two Roads Diverge es el observar como el mundo ha cambiado -para mal, para bien- desde 2006.

[Mo Coghlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the movie, but the movie doesn't make a lot of sense. I grabbed the comic book hoping it would clarify some things. It does not, lol. But, I am going to track down the other two in this series and see if all becomes clear. But, whomever cast that movie is in love with this comic. Fortunio looks just like Will Sasso and Jericho Cane just is The Rock. That was super cool.

[Dee Enfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not long enough to make much of an impression, but what's here is a nice companion to the film. Introduces Boxer, Fortunio, and Krysta. Perhaps the subsequent graphic novels will help make it feel more substantial. Still happy I had a chance to read it.

[Gilbert Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course porn stars write better screenplays than I do! Also Richard Kelly writing sequences he clearly couldn't shoot into a prequel comic book series was the power move of the century.

[Noah McClintock · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't like the art style.

[Houstonion · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty awesome, love that he actually wrote the Boxer Sanderos screenplay

[Michael O'sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't think there will ever be a cinematic disaster the scale of Southland Tales ever again but man is it fun to look back on and wonder.

[David Marsh · Rating 1 out of 5]

So far, nothing important has happened.

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

these are very strange books, but I think the film is both a failure and a masterpiece (many such cases)...oh but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, &c. the comics add plenty of depth from a content perspective (especially the embedded screehplay written by "Krysta Now"). however, the art is that terrible, ubiquitous b-tier DC Vertigo shit from the early 2000s that made everything look brown, every character look blobby, and so on. hand books like these (this review goes for all three installments; it's all the same stuff) to a noted "weird stuff interpreter" like frank quitely, then stand back and let him cook.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

I reserved reviewing and rating until I finished III, since, really, these function as one book.

Not sure how I missed this when it came around the first time. I am VERY curious to see how this plays out in Books IV, V, VI -- aka, the movie.

Honestly, anything involving Nicola Tesla's wacky work (wireless electricity: terrifying and intriguing, all at once), and I'm in.

Lots of fairly big-name stars in the flick (including Sarah Michelle Gellar -- I LOVE her -- as a psychic porn star). And yet, I never heard of it. Weird.

[Ben Nash · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boxer Santaros wakes up in the middle of the desert with no memory and syringes full of Fluid Karma. He connects with Krysta Now, who pulls him into a plan involving an old film script she wrote. In the end, Boxer Flashes back in time with the aid of the Fluid Karma, where he and the Chief of the Chukehansi tribe see each other.

My thoughts on the series will come at the end of Part III.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this after seeing the movie, and it didn't tell me much I didn't already know from the movie. I went into this mostly with the hope that it would tell me more about the pre-movie relationship between Krysta and Boxer, and it didn't really.

[furious · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is the first (1st) part of a trilogical graphic novel prequel to the new movie (Southland Tales) by Richard Kelly, the auteur of Donnie Darko. it is impossible to accurately judge it yet. but the art is cool.

[Carl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very disturbing, but thought provoking.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Felt really forced. Horrible writing. Decent art. Not enough here to keep me interested, though.

[Ctkruckus]

In light of recent blog reappraisals of DONNIE DARKO and 'TALES, I'm going to read the three comics for the first time and re-watch SOUTHLAND and see if I still think it's fucking garbage.

Book 1 - Not a great start.