Box 13

by David Gallaher, Steve Ellis (Illustrator)

Investigative author Dan Holiday has spent the last several years of his life researching the secrets behind the MKULTRA project. His latest book has brought him a degree of notoriety around the country and around the world. And, during his recent book tour - Dan discovers something that will change his life forever. Join him as he learns what lurks inside Box 13.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Sequential Art

124 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2010

About the author

Author David Gallaher has received multiple Harvey Award nominations and won The Best Online Comic Award for his work on High Moon for DC Comics. David was an early pioneer of digital comics developing projects for Marvel's Iron Man, Captain America, and Spider-Man as well as Box 13 - the first comic designed specifically for the iPhone - for ComiXology. He has served as a consulting editor for Attack on Titan, Sailor Moon, and Fairy Tail for Kodansha. He is represented by the Hill Nadell Agency.

Reviews

[Holger Haase · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't expect a comic book from the 2010s to be a 100% accurate adaption of a 1940s radio drama it was inspired by but I would expect that there are some more similarities that make it identifiable other than having a protagonist with the same name and a Box that is indeed the 13th one but is unrelated to the original one.

In the radio drama we have a writer place an ad in the papers in search for new plots for his stories: “Adventure wanted, will go anywhere, do anything — write Box 13, Star-Times.”

In the comic the writer is not interested in finding new adventures but gets dragged into a conspiracy involving Manchurian Candidate style MKUltra experiments which sounds more fun than it is as this is all really just a bit of a mess with very little rhyme or reasoning behind it. While tumbling from one scenario to the next he keeps on receiving mysterious boxes that number from 1 to - you guessed it - 13.

And when it's over, you're still none the wiser what really happened.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reamagined The box 13 radio show

[Paul Allard · Rating 2 out of 5]

A thriller of a comic collection

A bit of an old-fashioned comic in the style of its art but the storey is an engaging one about a spy novelist who is given a series of boxes which, on opening, transport him to various places. He meets a girl, Olivia, with whom he teams up to try to resolve the mystery.

Confusing at times (deliberately?), it ends mysteriously and this didn’t really work for me.

[PurplyCookie · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Box 13" is re-imagined (rather than a straight adaptation or continuation) as a comic book series. Originally commissioned by ComiXology and released exclusively on the iPhone, the series was created from start-to-finish with print-ready layouts.


Book Details:

Title Box 13
Author David Gallaher
Reviewed By Purplycookie

[Alan · Rating 1 out of 5]

A function of good story telling is to give your reader a complete story. In this instance the writer failed. yes we get teased with conspiracies and mysteries, but no resolution or even halfway satisfying answers.

[John Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taut adventure thriller. Gallaher has a habit of lettering the art do a lot of the heavy lifting and it's clear here. An incredibly striking visual experience. Not my favorite Gallaher / Ellis collaboration, but absolutely their most innovative and their most spectacular. It's a brisk read.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

there is so much potential. and then it just falls apart. shame.