Centipede Vol. 1: Game Over

Centipede #1-5

by Max Bemis, Eoin Marron (Artist), Kevin Ketner (Editor)

When a terrifying creature from beyond the stars attacks his planet, Dale's journey begins. But he is not out to save his world. It is already too late for that. As the lone survivor, the only thing he wants is revenge!
Writer Max Bemis (Worst X-Man Ever, Foolkiller) and artist Eoin Marron (Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original) bring you a tale of survival and vengeance like you've never seen before.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels

136 pages, Paperback

Published April 17, 2018

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A trippy, confusing take on the Atari game Centipede. The last man living on a planet fights a giant flying centipede while getting high on the mushrooms it leaves. An absolute mess of a story.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 2 out of 5]

'Centipede Vol. 1: Game Over' by Max Bemis with art by Eoin Marron is a graphic novel based on the classic Atari video game. Sort of.

A lone survivor on a planet ravaged by space bugs spends a lot of time reflecting on his life and choices, while trying to figure out how to kill the rather large and seemingly indestructible centipede hovering over his city. There is a lot of introspection and reckless behavior until it culminates in an even weirder way than the rest of the book.

I'm not sure what I expected in a graphic novel based on a video game, and this certainly was different than what I imagined. Unfortunately, when it was all done, I wasn't really a fan. The art works pretty well and I like some of the color choices that reference the old game.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dynamite Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

This might be very entertaining for fans of the game. It is a story about one man battling against a giant centipede that has eaten eveyone on his planet apart from him. It was interesting to read but not a favourite of mine. I dont think I really understood what was happening.

Copy provided by Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Mutated Reviewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Goodreads Synopsis:
When a terrifying creature from beyond the stars attacks his planet, Dale's journey begins. But he is not out to save his world. It is already too late for that. As the lone survivor, the only thing he wants is revenge!
Writer Max Bemis (Worst X-Man Ever, Foolkiller) and artist Eoin Marron (Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original) bring you a tale of survival and vengeance like you've never seen before.

My Review:
I really didn't expect to love this book as much as I did, or for it to be as funny as it was. Honestly I loved everything about this book and I'm really glad I got the chance to read it. I really liked the art style, and thought it had a nice cover too. I would love to get a paper copy so that I could read it again, if that tells you just how much I liked it. The main character is a man and he's the last man on earth. Before the apocalypse, he harvested and stole information from light years away, but no one ever expected this. A giant flying centipede landed on earth and quickly took care of the population. There's also massive spiders that attack daily. Although most of the book is him trying to fight back and explaining back story, it does that in a hilarious way that made me want to binge read it. And I did, I loved every part. It's a short read, and probably took less than an hour to finish. I definitely recommend you check it out if you get the chance.

Here's a link to the Author's Twitter, and another link to the book on Amazon.

https://twitter.com/maxbemis

https://www.amazon.ca/Centipede-Vol-G...

Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)

[Maciej · Rating 5 out of 5]

PL
Ciekawa miniseria (5 zeszytów) również od Dynamite autorstwa Maxa Bemisa (genialny scenarzysta komiksów Marvela: Worst X-Man Ever, Foolkiller) i rysunków Eoina Marrona (Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original). Historia jest banalna jak to w komiksach o ogromnych potworach bywa. Insekty najadły się czegoś i urosły, nasz bohater na własną rękę będzie musiał poradzić sobie ze szkodnikami, a jakby tego było mało to jeszcze zagrożenie ma związek z kosmosem i podróżami gwiezdnymi.
Przyjemna lekturka z super rysunkami, bardzo czytelnymi i z pięknymi kolorami. Gorąco polecam!
EN
Interesting miniseries (5 parts) from Dynamite by Max Bemis (Marvel's brilliant scriptwriter: Worst X-Man Ever, Foolkiller) and drawings by Eoin Marron (Sons of Anarchy Redwood Original). History is simple as it is in comic books about huge monsters. Insects have eaten something and grew, our hero on his own will have to deal with pests, and if this was not enough then the threat is connected with space and stellar travel.
Pleasant reading with great drawings, very clear and with beautiful colors. I would highly recommend!

[Laura Newsholme · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! It's anarchic, trippy and weirdly touching with some great artwork and good character development. It tells the story of Dale, who is the last man on his planet and must fight the alien centipede that has eaten everyone else. Based on the Atari game, the narrative focuses on battles between Dale and the centipede with its spider minions, coupled with flashback panels that give us Dale's backstory. I thought these panels were particularly well done, with the colours having a washed-out quality letting us know that the action took place in the past. The plot goes in some pretty strange places and there are times when I felt like the narrative got away a little bit, but the author does a good job of drawing all of the threads together into what was, for me, a really satisfying and unexpected read.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Peter Derk · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first this was boring AF. Then it got fun and weird. Then the main character took a shroom trip that gave him insight into defeating the centipede, which...was sort of incredibly stupid, but it was still weirdly fun to read.

I wish someone I knew would read this. I didn't understand the ending. There's a couple page where the character is maybe talking to his boyfriend, or maybe it's a flashback, or maybe, I don't know. There's something else happening here. I tried pretty hard. I took classes in college to interpret literature, and I still didn't really get it. Is everyone else alive? Is this fantasy? What the hell is going on?

This is why a book needs like 10 beta readers. If 5 out of 10 don't pick up on something, it's not working. I'm 1 out of I don't know how many, so maybe I'm the one idiot. But I don't think so. BUT maybe I don't think so because I'm the one idiot. Am I stupid, or am I too stupid to know that I'm stupid.

[Cale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Novel concept, strange execution, and an unfulfilling conclusion. The idea of a man being the last person on the planet, fighting off a massive creature that had destroyed the world, is fairly straightforward. But that premise takes a back seat as we learn more about our protagonist, including multiple flashbacks to his life. But those flashbacks start to take the forefront, especially in the final issue, which I'm not sure I actually get. There's some humor (the creature is very stupid), some action (though less than I expected or wanted from the concept), and a little pathos. The art is good (the creature looks suitably scary), and it does get a bit trippy. For a comic book based on a 30+ year-old video game, it's better than I could have expected, but that was a pretty low bar to cross, and it doesn't ever rise much beyond its concept.

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a comic for those who think Battleships the paper-based game could become a decent movie. Yup, it's based on the computer game, yes the sole character talks to us in his underwear for no reason, and yes, it truly is as bad as you dared think.

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s funny, while reading this I went from thinking this is far better than it has any right to be to being annoyed it bungled the ending and didn’t live up to the promise of the earlier issues. It’s interesting though, well worth reading for the way it keeps making odd turns.

[Jochem · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tries to mix late night 80s monster movies with a relationship drama. It comes together a bit messy and rushed but it's entertaining all the way through.

[David Cordero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun read!

[Devon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

Deeper story than you could ever imagine for an adaptation like this. The artwork is also beautiful. Highly recommended for all.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unsure of the ending.
The art matches the story. A bit of fun with some themes deeper than surface level. I'd recommend as a quick read. Not something I'd buy.

[Etienne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really not my style. It may pleaew to some, but it really look like you bring a cheap video game graphic and story and you make a comic book with it. It feel a bit empty...

[J.D. DeHart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange, violent, and funny at times, Centipede works like a late-night monster B-movie. Colorful, professionally done, lots of fun to read!

[Alex Sarll]

Yes, as in the old arcade game (which I've never played), because that's the cultural moment we're in. And yes, that's precisely as bad an idea as the Battleships film - but also as bad an idea as The Lego Movie, and I've liked other comics by Max Bemis, so since it was there for the reading on Netgalley, I thought I might as well give it a go. And you know what? It's alright. The lone survivor of a devastated planet fights a ceaseless battle against a dumb but apparently unkillable giant centipede and its spidery minions, and I say 'ceaseless', but obviously there are times he collapses from exhaustion, or PTSD, and in between his increasingly desperate and ridiculous attempts to finally off the bastard thing, we get to hear a surprising amount about his life before it came, his everyday frustrations, the love he didn't quite seize when he should have...it's all surprisingly affecting, given the source property. And that's just the first three issues - the fourth goes completely Freudian/trippy. I don't entirely get why it's set on a planet obsessed with Earth culture, instead of just in our near future, but maybe the name of the planet was also in the original game so that was baked in?