Shrapnel: Aristeia Rising

Shrapnel #1

by M. Zachary Sherman, Bagus Hutomo (Penciller), Leos Ng (Colorist)

Venus, 2250. After five years of war, the last free colony in the Solar System is about to fall. Unknown to the attacking marines—or even the colonists themselves—the most infamous heroine of the war has gone into hiding in exile on their planet. Now she must organize a revolt against the very marines she once fought alongside and lead the colonists to freedom.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

184 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Shrapnel ended up being a problematic 'read' for me. I cut my tooth on military sci fi (Cherryh especially) and was hoping for something literary in this graphic novel. However, the story really could have been told in any setting and didn't need the sci fi trappings. It was fairly basic, overly wordy, and didn't really go anywhere interesting.

With a generic story, I look for the art to carry and expound upon the story. That didn't happen here. The art was very murky and somewhere through the middle of the book I gave up trying to figure out what the heck was going on. Honestly, I think things blew up and people said things. I have a "reader's digest' cursory summary but I don't have any idea what was going on thanks to the dark, featureless art.

I don't think the art or the story was bad. But what clearly happened here is a complete and utter lack of synergy between a good artist and a good storyteller. As such, the art didn't further the story and the story couldn't depend on the art to tell the details. The dialogue rarely pushed the story further and the art never further the story graphically. I can honestly say that I had no clue what was happening for 3/4 of the book. And well, aren't we through with 1-dimensional evil military types who kill innocents for their own glory (There are several 'moustach twirler' eeeevil military types in this story).

I think there was a love story somewhere in there - he may have been killed, not sure. And there's a story of conflict between natural borns (helots in the story) and the genetically enhanced (Slicers). Not sure that was really important to the story either.

The quality of the book itself was, like it's story and art, conflicted. The pages are beautiful and full color but the binding was terrible. Pages immediately began to become loose and some were bound so tight as to make it difficult to read and fully open the book.

In all, I'm as ambivalent on how to review this as the book is itself. On the plus side, you do get a lot for your money since there are a lot of pages.

[47Time · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of the time I don't know what's happening because of the funky artwork. I get that it's war and it's confusing, but I would have preferred to be able to follow the action every once in a while. A review on the cover describes the artwork as 'art that makes your eyes drool'. No, it's just tears. Tears of sorrow for wasting a solid story on crap artwork. As for the rest, though, this is a complex scifi story about the last free colony fighting for its survival. It has tactics, camaraderie, a love story. Damn wasted on the artwork... This comic needed some narration to explain the nonsensical panels, constant labels hovering over every character's head so you can tell them apart - most of the time I can't even tell men from women. I can't think of any other example where the artwork sucked so much ass.

After having lost her sister, former marine Sam went awol. She settled on Venus and kept her past a secret from her new friends. Her past catches up to her when the Solar Alliance of Planets demands that Venus give up her autonomy and join the fold. The Venusian leaders understand that the Alliance's offer is in reality slavery, so they decide to mobilize the army. They only need a proper leader.

The tides of battle are firmly in the Alliance's favor until Sam steps in. Her intimate knowledge of marine tactics and of the terrain earns a victory for Venus. This worries the Alliance generals who throw more troops into the fray.

Sam is tasked with infiltrating a team of specialists into the enemy camp to liberate a space elevator for civilian evacuation. The mission almost goes belly up when their cover is blown. They receive help from the martian colonists who need allies in the fight against the Alliance. The final battle is fought head-on and Sam is pivotal in guiding and motivating the troops on the front line. I think. I could only distinguish text bubbles and explosions in the most awful artwork I've ever laid my eyes upon. Truly, an epic failure of biblical proportions.

[Kristen Waldron · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sam's story was interesting and I always love a female sci-fi lead but the story was hard to follow visually. I had to really force myself to get through it.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appeal Characteristics Visual Art, strong female lead, Character Development, Storyline


You are on Venus in a world filled with two types of people. Helots and Geno-types. Helots are normal humans who were conceived naturally, where Genotypes have had their genes altered to maximize their potential. Helots are discriminated against intensely, and are enslaved on other planets because of their inferiority. Back to Venus, Anyway, Venus is one of the last planets that Helots and Genotypes live in peace and have a "sorta-healthy" competitive job market (where Helots may get "bad" jobs, but at least their not slaves.) Enter in the "bad guy" as he invades Venus to take over. The president of Venus demands the Helots and Genotypes of Venus to come together and fight for the ideal of peace. They are no match of the trained Geno-type Marines...but Venus does have a secret weapon in the name of Sam...the girl who could change everything, if she could only stop running from her past.

I have some comics that I REALLY REALLY like...and some ones I like. I went back and forth with it as I will eventually finish it, it's just not pressing enough at this time...that I gotta finish it.

[Ari Pérez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting story, great battle scenes, good characters, good artwork, but, sometimes the art is very dark and you can barely discern between the good guys suits armor and the baddies'. The art is very good but I feel it could be better if the tones and brightness were more attuned. Good storytelling though, full of sci-fi terminology and great concept.

Good, but could be better.

[Mike Gallagher · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing was good. The story was average with a strong start. It was similar to Warhammer 40K without being as interesting or as military minded.
The art was dark and overly abstract sometimes. It was difficult to
Follow the story in the art. For as much work went into
Making this book it should have shown more.

[John Xero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent CG art which can look a little muddied and dark in places, making some of the battle scenes confusing and unclear. It was easier to skim fights and work out what had happened by the aftermath, which was a shame.

The story is military SF in tone, with a light political edge. Interesting and well-written.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with other reviews that the art was sometimes ambiguous and I couldn't tell which characters I was seeing. The story itself was quite good and overall I liked the art but I dinged it a star due to the art sometimes being too hard to make out.

[Karin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork, some of the best I've seen.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair story, although one of the better sic fi graphic novels I have read.

The art is beautiful and emotive in places, and muddy and confused in others.

[Andre · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book fell apart on me a quarter of the way in. I'm not really interested in reading more as it felt like looking at a series of painting rather than reading a graphic novel.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spectacular art & a decent story.