The Victorian: Part II: Self-Immolationby Barb Lien-CooperReviews may contain information that could be considered 'spoilers'. Readers should proceed at their own risk.
Publisher
Credits Grade: 8 The Victorian is a comic and graphic novel series that has some of the best covers since Tony Harris's Starman (I guess the shared commonality of a bloke in a top hat brought that to mind). This volume of The Victorian is lavishly, richly put together, with an embossed cover, lots of neat pictures (as well as pencil to ink drawings), and (my favorite feature) the characters of the book shown as the Major Arcana of the Tarot. The assignment of each character to the Tarot card that fits him or her is a clever conceit that teaches one about the characters, about their backstory, and a bit about the Tarot itself. If I'd known it was there, I would have probably flipped immediately to the back, as it really helps you with the character's backstories and motivations.The Victorian is a book of epic proportions, featuring many interlocking stories that all affect each other. In fact, you can't really call the interlocking stories "subplots", as each one is as essential to the telling of the tale as the next one. As an epic, the reader probably owes it to him or herself to start at the beginning of the first book and get this book afterwards — soon afterwards, as the reader will want to jump back into The Victorian's world as quickly as possible. But, if you can't afford two volumes, it is allowable to start here. I warn you, don't plunge into the book without reading the info that is helpfully provided on the flaps of the book, as well as Len Wein's introduction. If you read these and refer back to the intro two or three times, you'll soon catch up with the action. Luckily for us readers, the characters are so distinct, we soon know them and start to bond with them. The book is blessed by the presence of the legendary writer Len Wein in charge of bringing this epic to life in its second volume. Wein's a good choice for the book. As the writer of the bayou's own Swamp Thing, Wein seemed to know New Orleans, which is where The Victorian is partly set. My husband and I went to New Orleans last January. Reading The Victorian, especially seeing the art portraying the French Quarter, brought everything back to me in lavish detail. Good job, there, folks. The plot is a doosy, involving counterfeit bills that may upset the US (and World?) economy, a stolen nuclear submarine, and the many people looking for a mysterious hero nicknamed "The Hat", a mysterious hero that saves crime victims by shooting darts at villains. Inside the darts is a type of drug that makes the criminals so empathize with the victims of their crimes that they have to confess in order to get any peace of mind. In that way, The Hat reminds me of The Shadow, who used his mysterious powers to make criminals crack. The story is no respecter of time or place, jumping back and forth from England to the USA, from the Victorian past to the present in a turn of a page. Yet, each jump is important to the plot. Somewhere in the Victorian backstory lies the secret of The Hat, as well as other secrets that may well impact the present for good or for ill. As you can see, The Victorian is at once good, old-fashioned storytelling that owes a certain debt to Victorian stories of the past, as well as a well-done modern political thriller. The art style is exceptionally well done and realistic. It wasn't what I expected when I saw the cover of The Victorian. I thought the art would be more stylized, as I liked the stylized covers I've seen of The Victorian. But, I soon grew used to the penciller's styles. I think I liked St. Aubin's art the most, but that's just me being subjective. I have to give a special tip of the hat to the colorist, Chris Chuckry, who makes the pages come alive with his subtle shades. So far I have read two graphic novels and three issues of the offerings from Penny Farthing Press. They are uniformly excellent works. If my experiences are anything to judge by, if you see the symbol of the big wheeled bike on the cover, you're probably going to like the comic. Written: April 23, 2002
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