Underground

by Jeff Parker, Steve Lieber (Illustrator)

A conflict over Stillwater Cave forces two rangers to flee deep under the mountains, first to escape pursuers, and then the most deadliest threat -- the cave itself! This volume collects the critically acclaimed mini-series by Jeff Parker and Steve Lieber and includes extra material including a Wesley Fischer solo story.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Adventure, Crime, Graphic Novels Comics, Suspense

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 2010

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed how different of an environment this was for a chase story. It's a pretty simple story. Two park rangers come across some criminals and must flee through a dangerous cave system to escape their pursuers. The environment kept the tension ratcheted up. I like how Ron Chan kept the colors monochromatic while in the cave system but full color above ground. Steve Lieber's art is always solid.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Image book now reprinted by Oni Press, this is a nice, taut little thriller. The story takes place in a small town called Stillwater, and concerns a local cave system, that a part of the community wants to open to the public. Wesley Fischer, a park ranger, fears the caves will be ruined by becoming a tourist trap.



Locals take it upon themselves to blast a larger opening into the cave using dynamite. They're interrupted by another park ranger, and from this things quickly spin out of control, one problem leading to another. Wesley Fischer soon joins the other ranger, and a chase down the caves begins.



There story is well paced, and never loses the tension. The art is great, especially noteworthy is how the parts down the caves stay visually interesting.



The book also contains a short story that was the startingpoint for the longer narrative.

(Thanks to Oni Press for providing me with an ARC through Edelweiss)

[Jake · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first heard this was canceled at Image for missing deadlines despite good reviews, I had to know more. First chance I got, I dove into this series when it became available for review. And it does not disappoint.

Everything's pretty normal if a little uncertain. The town needs a little life in it after a lot of uncertain directions are taken. Like two Park Rangers in a relationship that might clash with workplace problems coming up today.

That is until the main conflict comes knocking. In this battle between conserving natural wonders and commodifying everything in and around it. Especially with how one of the entrepreneurs of the small town surrounding a cave hires a few convicts needing work to commercialize the cave. By blowing up parts of the cave no less. And led by a man willing to murder to cover his tracks.

I really like how the creators dive into spelunking/caving as a way to build tension, the world, and character dynamics. Our two park rangers use their resources to their advantage but aren't exactly safe in their journey to survive. Just because you know something about a topic, doesn't mean you're safe. The tension feels organic with main park rangers coming to love each and respect other more, even in spite of the flaws and ideological clashes.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story, of park rangers who get chased into a dangerous, barely-explored cave system, is really enjoyable. The art is impressive, considering most of it is inside a cave, barely lit. the use of monochromatic color schemes works well for that, and contrasts the outside world sections well. The plot is a bit threadbare in the motivations for the cave sections, but there are a couple of action beats that work really well; although there's also one that's a bit too complicated to be clearly interpreted from the art. But the scene in the underground river is a wonder of pacing and tension.
The characters are interesting, and although I think the ending was a little cheap, it did feel true to the story as well. All in all, I'm very glad I stumbled across it. As someone who used to love caves, this makes me yearn even more for a visit, all the while being very frank about their dangers.

[Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Purchased directly from (and signed by) the artist.

I met Steve Lieber yesterday at the Montreal Comiccon - what a friendly guy, by the way - and he told me about this book, a claustrophobia tale set in a cave system. I liked the premise and was looking forward to a suspense story set in such a distinct environment. I'm so glad I did!

Thanks for the recommendation, Steve!

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A difernent story as we have park rangers traveling through caverns as they try to escape a developer who wants his actions in the park covered up. The highlight is Steve Leiber's artwork. The plot is all right, and while this is a novella very little depth is given to the characters.

[Brianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 ⭐️ for the plot and art.
Quick one-shot graphic novel about Kentucky caves with all the fun Appalachian tropes: fried pies, conservationist ranger, big-bad developer, and the beauty of Kentucky. WKYT even makes an appearance on a page. Quick read.

[Lukasz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fun. A chase in the caves. Rangers are on the run, and bad guys chase them in the tunnels. Baddies though are kinda flat.

All told a fun way to spend 30 - 40 minutes.

[Sonic · Rating 3 out of 5]

A different kind of story, told well with strong illustration.

[Erin O'Mahony · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is stunning and so well designed for the space in the story. Absolutely worth reading.

[Jacobi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've had a passing interest in spelunking ever since seeing The Descent. It isn't something I'm sure I will ever do, but I really like the setting of caves, and they seem like a more interesting place than most to set a story. Hell, for as shitty as it was, I even enjoyed aspects of The Cave (Cole Hauser represent) because of where the story was placed.

Underground isn't a horror story, though, as much as it is one that focuses on a chase. I won't say the why fors of why the leads are on the run, but it really doesn't matter too much. The draw of this book is seeing two incredibly likable characters get chased through a cave system by a group of black hats -- and it is glorious. Parker keeps the script light and tight, and Steve Lieber is a total bastard on art. The art is super solid all the way through, but it comes alive when Ron Chan switches to a monochromatic coloring style while showing the cave scenes. Just really great stuff.

This is a light one sitting sort of read that will improve any lazy afternoon.

[Brett Milam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been trying to make an effort this year to read more of my graphic novels, and I had a delightful time reading Jeff Parker's and Steve Lieber’s 2010 standalone, Underground, from Image Comics, an independent comic books publisher. Parker and Lieber met back in 1993 and assisted each other on various projects over the years, but Underground was their first collaboration. Lieber originally came up with the story, although he worried about keeping a “realistic cave interior visually interesting over an entire book,” so he did a “pilot” of sorts in Image’s Four Letter Worlds Anthology, published in 2005. Lieber turned to Parker to write the full book story, and he would do the art. Ron Chon did the colors, which is an important visual storytelling element of this story. To that point, if Lieber was worried about keeping the interior of a cave visually interesting across a whole book, then he need not worry. Lieber and Parker succeeded in providing a visually compelling, white-knuckle, harrowing spelunking thriller. Underground had the vibe of an early 1990s thriller film (highly complimentary!), with fun characters and action story beats. Perhaps similar to 1993’s Cliffhanger, but in a cave.

Wesley “Wes” Fischer is our bad-ass spelunker, who happens to be a park ranger in Marion, Kentucky, where Stillwater Cave exists relatively preserved in its natural state. She’s interested in preserving that natural environment, free of the dangers turning it into a tourist spot would necessarily invite, such as damaging oily fingers, risk to million-year-old stalactites, and so on. On the other hand, the rural town of Marion needs the boon to its economy Stillwater Cave tourism would bring. One local store owner, Winston Bigfoot, is particularly outspoken about the project.

Wes also just had an almost-one-night-stand with fellow park ranger, Seth, who she was going to say bye-bye, too, but she couldn’t figure out how, so they decide to go to the local diner instead. After a confrontation with Bigfoot, they go to work. Seth trades another ranger for the Stillwater trail, where it’s ominously reported that one of the cave keys is missing. Turns out, Bigfoot is paying a few guys to start dynamiting the cave to make a tourist entrance. This, before anything has been made official and right as a member of the governor’s office is set to explore the site.

Seth confronts the two guys in Stillwater and one of the classic movie doofuses panics and detonates the dynamite knocking Seth out. The two guys get away and bring in the lead Bigfoot henchman, Harden, to help them out, who brings two additional men to go “collect the body” of Seth. Before that can happen, Wes arrives and helps Seth. That sets off our thriller through the cave, as Wes uses her spelunking prowess to evade Harden and his goons. Along the way, one of them is killed after methane mixes with the guano from the bats (their poop) in the cave and blows up, and another accidentally hangs himself after a rope climb down a cliff where they tried to attack Wes and Seth. Thankfully, but harrowingly, Wes and Seth fall into the water below.

What I loved about the visual storytelling element is that once inside the cave, there’s a brownish red monochromatic style to the comic (contrasted to the very colorful outside the cave look). To Lieber’s credit, that makes the interior of the cave compelling, especially with his close-up facial art of Wes, Seth, Harden, and the others’ distress and anger. Then, when Wes and Seth are in the water, it’s a more blueish monochromatic style. I thought it was all very effective.

There were two story beats that had my hands sweaty imaging them — and I mean, caves in general give me baseline fear due to the claustrophobia factor and fear of a, well, cave in. The first was Wes and Seth going through the water underneath the ceiling of the cave with barely room for oxygen and then running out of that space to breathe, so they swam an unknown distance until there was space to lift up and breathe again. Phew, no thank you, but also, what else are you going to do when guys with guns are chasing you? The second was toward the end of the book when Wes and Seth need to ascend a steep cave wall and do a double chimney climb, or chimneying. Google it, and then imagine two people with their backs to each other doing it. I’m getting sweaty fingers imagining it again! As Wes said, it’s a counterinitiative move: when going up a rockface, you instinctively want to hug the wall, whereas with chimneying, you’re pushing your feet away from the wall in order to climb up. Agh!

Harden shoots and kills his own man, the third death, for wanting to turn back around and give up the chase. The final man in his group, who is the brother of the first man burned, so you would think he might be out for revenge, instead tries to lie about discovering Wes and Seth, only for Harden to knock him out. Harden shoots at Wes, and Seth tackles him through the opening of the cave, which is abutted by a waterfall that happens to be right near the diner from the beginning of the book!

Bigfoot would serve time in prison for his role in everything, and ultimately, Stillwater would become a tourist attraction, but with Wes leading the tours as an educational opportunity. She figured it was going to turn into a tourist attraction whether she wanted it to or not, so better to have some modicum of control over it. And as mentioned, tourism itself can be leveraged for education and awareness about the need for conservation.

What a fun, thrilling story where the artistry and color choices heightened the thrill. If you ever want to give an independent, non-superhero comic a try, this is a good one to start with.

[Alex Sarll]

Steve Lieber draws a truly wonderful cave system, but then he draws a wonderful most things. Plus, I get the idea that the caving tips and tricks (or as a wanker would call them, 'hacks') are the fruit of genuine knowledge, and it's not like there's an overabundance of comics about caving. My only problem is that the skeleton of the story used to justify showing us all this is an action-adventure plot I can too easily see cropping up on Channel 5 (well, maybe except for the ending). Frustrating, but well worth a look.

[Ula · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some good art but I wasn't crazy about the story. Maybe it was too short? For a GN set firmly in the real world, the characters were a bit over the top extreme and the dramatic scenes just weren't long enough to keep it very interesting. And the ending with the restaurant workers seemed a bit too "Fried Green Tomatoes".

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book “Underground” by Steve Lieber (illustrator) and Jeff Parker (author) was a great fiction book. It is a wild adventure with a lot of action in the Stillwater cave. I read a page a couple of pages of this book and it looked like it had an interesting plot to it.

This story's setting is Stillwater Cave, Kentucky. Seth goes into the Stillwater Cave to protect it from Winston Bearfoot blowing up parts of it that took hundreds of thousands of years to form. Seth finds some of Winton's workers that are trying to blow the cave up and they accidentally push the button and blow it up knocking Seth out. Wes gets suspicious and comes into the cave meanwhile Winston's other workers are on their way to haul Seth out of the cave. They come upon each other and Wes and Seth get backed into the cave by them.

At parts of this book it made me tense because I didn't know if the characters were going to be ok. I would give this book 8/10 because of language but the artwork by Steve lieber was fantastic. It really showed what the characters were doing. I would say any age over 12 would be ok because of the use of profanity. I enjoyed this book but wouldn't recommend this book to my friends because they wouldn't like this type of book.

[Ryan Werner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exploration is its own reward, but being the exploratory type helps when you're trapped in a big cave with people who want to kill you. I think that's what the book is trying to say. Either that or, "You can get away with lots of stuff if you convince absolute morons to do all your dirty work."

I liked Lieber's art in the Whiteout books, so I was curious to see how he'd fare here with color (and without being able to use a shitload of white space). His commitment to panels is great, and I dig the inks for the most part. The monochrome in the caves makes it a bit hard to follow and I'm not entirely sold on how vibrant the out-of-cave scenes are, but art-wise this is a pretty solid book.

The story I could take or leave. It starts with a morning-after-the-hook-up scene and turns into this slow burn chase through the caves. I never really felt like there was a lot of suspense, though things did move quickly. It just kind of came and went. There's no real sexual tension and the couple bonding over the course of trying to stay alive doesn't translate to any sort of chemistry. They're both attractive park rangers, so I believe the hook up, at least.

[Nathaniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple cave survival story with suspenseful sequences and spectacular cave artwork. Wes and Seth are decent enough protagonists - you care about their survival and romantic tension, though I can't say I'd be drawn to see them in another story. Many of the characters don't have a lot of time to be given much depth, but in context of the book they play their roles well enough. Honestly, the biggest draw is the chase through the cave. Parker scripts some tense sequences, elevated by Lieber's pencils and Chan's colors. The cave looks fantastic - Chan's browns and blues in concert with Lieber's inks create some great atmosphere in the cavernous setting. There were a few panels where I had to stop and admire the cave, especially The Ballroom. And that water scene? *chef's kiss*

I did find the lettering somewhat distracting, and there were a few instances where it was difficult to see punctuation. The resolution was a bit odd considering the characters' journeys, but whatever.

If you feel in the mood for a simple chase story with solid artwork, consider giving Underground a shot.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrific thriller set in the claustrophobic cave systems of Kentucky. The main characters are likable, the action is thrilling but believable, and the crisp art by Steve Lieber takes us through every step of the action. And oh, man, Ross Chan's colors are terrific: in the caves, lighting is an important factor, and he and Lieber do an excellent job of keeping clear what's seen and unseen. (And the bright spring coloration of the outdoor scenes come as a welcome respite!)

Great book.

[Paula Lyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like caves, they feel like nothing else in the world. I'm not a caver, just a tourist passing through. This is an interesting story that touches lightly on whether opening up caves for people like me, is good or just too destructive. It has a clear-eyed view of both sides of this sticky issue. Recommend.

[Zefyr]

Gorgeously illustrated, solid adventure story. A cool tidbit is included at the end: a reprint of Lieber's Underground: Fell, originally printed in Image's Four-Letter Worlds anthology, which Lieber put together to test if he could effectively illustrate the inside of caves for a comic before pursuing this one here. He could, and he did; good thing.

[RND · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little compact taut thriller. Effective at evoking the feeling of claustrophobia with comics. Lieber's great, though maybe let someone else letter next time. Could be a good movie.

[Adrian Bloxham · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great comic

[Garet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tight, quick read I enjoyed cover to cover. Illustrations are totally cinematic, and I thought the characters had delightful chemistry. Simply all you could ask for in an adventure.

[William O’Pomegranate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Such boring one-dimensional characters makes it tough to care about any of the happenings of the book.

[Ash · Rating 4 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers: very simple story but well executed and stunningly illustrated. It reads like watching a good two part episode drama on TV. I would read more from these guys!

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Underground tackles unusual topics for comic books. In Marion, KY, investors want to develop the federally-protected Stillwater Cave into a tourist trap. After park rangers Wesley Fischer -- caver and ardent protector of the Stillwater site -- and Seth Ridge confront locals blasting the cave, events quickly spiral into a deadly chase deep under the Kentucky mountains. Believable and likable characters propel this fast moving tale. Parker presents the separate viewpoints of the factions in an informed manner while successfully maintaining Fischer as the sympathetic protagonist. Lieber's excellent storytelling and vibrant art really shines, especially in the tense underground chase scenes, where he expertly combines peril with wonder.

[Jordi Balcells · Rating 4 out of 5]

I normally do not read comic-books that are not fantasy / sci-fi related. When I do read those, it's because they are pretty famous, and the theme picks my interest. Caves and rangers are not usually my cup of tea, but Mr. Lieber, one of the authors, made it interesting by treating readers as fans and not as pirates when he discovered that his work was being shared for free on the Internet. I am glad I gave it a chance, it was a good read.

The e-comic is available for download on the author's website: http://www.stevelieber.com/download-c... Download and donate, donate and download.

[Pturingan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I completely enjoyed this comic. The story was very fast-paced, thrilling and fairly unique. Caves and caving are a big thing where I'm from and I was quite glad to see a comic use it as a setting while bringing to light some of the issues related to caving.

I also enjoyed Steve Lieber's art more here than I did in Whiteout. There are a number of great scenes which really highlight the drama and danger of a cave setting.

I'm hoping the series sold well enough that the creators seriously consider a sequel. Go out and buy a copy!

[April Stormdancer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a graphic novel about a park ranger who works at a park with a natural cave system that is closed to the public. A rich business man wants to open the caves to the public to increase revenue for the town but the park staff is against it because the natural formations in the cave will be damaged in the process. Cue shady dealings by the business man, explosions, hurt staff, and a breathless chase through the cave system.

It was all very awesome and I wanna read more adventure comics just like this.

[Gord · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stand alone graphic novel. The problem I have with these is that they're just never long enough to give characters proper depth and give the story arc more roller coaster hills. I felt like just when this story was really starting to move... it ends. Its too bad caz it was a WYSIWYG story which is good for a stand alone.