Does this company have some unimaginative names for it's comics or what?
Crux - The more common definitions involve a cross, or a meeting point, but it also means anything that puzzles, so I guess it matches the predicament of the main characters thrust out of their time & trying to figure out what happened.
Edge - Edge of what? It's a monthly graphic novel reprinting a cross section of CrossGen titles.
The First - Features the First, a race of godlike beings. Maybe not the most imaginative title, but it fits.
Forge - What is being forged? It's a monthly graphic novel reprinting a cross section of CrossGen titles.
Meridian - Name of the floating island that the heroine calls home, but it really doesn't tell you much about what happens in the book does it?
Mystic - Yes, the heroine is a mystic and the world is magical, but this name could go on half a dozen books featuring sorcerors.
Negation - Named after the bad guys who kidnapped 100 people from all over the CrossGen universe, although the protagonists of the story are those trying to escape from the Negation. (Kind of like if Star Trek: Deep Space Nine had been named Star Trek: Dominion.)
The Path - Hardly evocative of the story of a holy man who takes up arms, now is it?
Ruse - Fitting. A Sherlock Holmes-style detective, his assistant is a powerful entity pretending to be human. Can also refer to the strategems, tricks & wiles of various characters.
Scion - The main character is an heir & the title does have an ancient feel, but rather generic.
Sigil - Okay, the hero does have a sigil which gives him power, but then so does the heroine of Mystic, the heroine & villain of Meridian, the villain of Sojourn, etc., etc. Probably the most generic choice of CrossGen's line, and it doesn't tell you that this book is a SF war story.
Sojourn - Means to dwell in a place as a temporary resident, so what does that have to do with the story? Does it refer to the revived from dead bad guy, the heroine, somebody else?
Other nits
The bad guys of Sigil are reptilian creatures named Saurians. That's original. Sounds like an alien from the 1950's.
When listing the stars of the book Crux, Gallin gets listed, but his twin brother Gammid is left out. Also it refers to 6 Atlanteans when there are actually 7. Of course by listing Danik as one of the '6' they give away a 'secret' that wasn't supposed to be revealed until the end of the 3rd issue. (Not that it was much of a secret. I'm amazed the heroine didn't recognize him immediately.)
Negation #7
The cover shows Evinlea being strangled, However there seems to be a real problem with her legs. Either the cover artist really screwed up or Evinlea's body has been split up to about her sternum, because I can't see anyway for her legs as depicted to be connected properly.
Looks okay to me. Especially compared to far more atrocious mutilations of anatomy I've seen.
Well, CrossGen Comics has filed for Chapter 11.
Aw man. That just sux. They're a good company, with some good ideas, and some original, innovative approaches to the medium. I just enjoyed Abadazad #3 last night, and noticed in the ad in the back of the book that #4 was scheduled for May, but it hasn't come out.
Well, at least it's not Chapter 7, Keith. Hopefully, they'll come out of this.
Apparently Disney will, or has, bought CrossGen.
I can just see it.
All the heroes will wear Mickey Mouse ears & the First will move to the Magic Kingdom.
I hope Abadadad and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang resume publication as soon as possible.
I think Abadadad was mentioned as one of the properties Disney was interested in.
That should've been Abadazad. And are they interesting in resuming publication, or just adapting it for the screen? I hope the former, or at least both.
The source I got the info from.
Luigi, Sequential Tart has an interview with the Editor-In-Chief of Hyperion Books & she talks about Abadazad.
Offhand the way she phrases things makes me wonder if this will be a good merger. I hope I'm wrong, but something about that interview set off some warning signals in my head.
The latest issue of Sequential Tart has an interview with writer JM DeMatteis about Abadazad.
There was an announcement at the San Diego Comic-Con that Marvel will be doing something with the CrossGen characters. So I've moved it here to the Marvel section. *crosses fingers*
In the 2005 humor issue "Wha-Huh?!" the writers have Uatu the Watcher say "I have never seen anything so pathetic as your purchase of this incredibly stupid comic book. And I've seen pathetic. I was there for CrossGen."
Hmm. Is that funny? I've never read any of the CrossGen titles, so I really don't know if they are "pathetic" or not.
But like I said, it *was* said in a humor issue!
I'm not sure AMR, Humor is supposed to make one laugh.
The quality of the CrossGen books varied.
I couldn't stand The Path, it was set on a world with an ancient Japanese culture, the story was boring & the coloring horrible.
Meridian (one of the original four titles) - Set on a world of islands that float in the sky & each island is an independent country. 2 entities come to this world & give a sigil of power to 2 brothers, although the good brother dies & it passes to his daughter Sephie. Started off really slow & boring, it only started to pick up with the issues reprinted in the second collection, and started improving as Sephie was gathering allies & working to put a stop to her uncle.
Scion (one of the original four titles) - A world with a medieval-type setting, a prince is given a sigil of power during a tournament & screws up the peace that had existed between two kingdoms. My review mentions I preferred the earlier stories to the later ones. Has its moments.
Sigil (one of the original four titles) - Samandahl Ray is given a sigil of power at the same time that Saurians attack human worlds. Interesting, if a little on the over-powered side of the spectrum. Oddly enough the original writer was not familiar with hard-action sci-fi which made for some interesting & some not-so interesting decisions. Chuck Dixon later took over & the action quotient went up, while some of the other interesting things declined.
Mystic (one of the original four titles) - On a world of magic a flighty party girl is given a sigil of power that bonds with her the spirits of that world's magic & she has to grow up, learn to use magic & ease the tensions between the different practicers of magic. Generally pretty good, although I think the different types of magic weren't all that well thought out.
Ruse - Basically Sherlock Holmes without Holmes charm. (I want to like this more, but it's held back by basically being a Holmes knock-off.)
The First - A group of godlike beings who believe they are the first people in the universe. Not bad, but the story draaaaaaaaaaaaags for long stretches of time as the creators try to create the illusion of story progress while marking time.
Sojourn - A dead man is revived with a sigil of power & proceeds to try & conquer the world again. In the process Arwyn's husband & daughter are killed & she seeks revenge as well as pieces of a mystical arrow. The story works better in short stretches as it will go forward, then inexplicably pull back. (As all these titles were part of one over-arching universe I imagine that an overall timetable existed & this sometimes affected the books if the story of one book got too far ahead of other ones.) Kind of sad to look back at this title & realize that this is where Greg Land started Photoshopping porn.
Crux - Starts in the past as some Atlanteans are planning to ascend to a higher form of existence, while others choose to stay behind & guide the young human race, after a temporary stay in suspended animation. Something goes wrong & 7 Atlanteans awake on an Earth that has long been abandoned by humanity. There's some nice mysteries under creator Mark Waid, although when Chuck Dixon takes over action takes center stage.
Negation - In a parallel universe, god-emperor Charon of the Negation has had 100 beings from the main universe, mostly humans, some sigil-bearers, some of the first, & is experimenting on them as a prelude to invasion, but some of them escape & try to find a way back home while also fighting the Negation. I think this was the best of the titles. (Odd since it could be quite gruesome, which I don't normally like.)
Brath - Kind of a Conan knock-off. (Actually more like Cormac Mac Art, but how many people know him?) Readable, but nothing special.
Way Of The Rat - Another world with an ancient Japanese culture, but this one is fun. A thief steals a ring that makes him the Master of Staffs & the Scroll of Hungry Dragons & is hunted by those who wish to possess them & is accompanied by a talking monkey who treats him like an idiot.
There were other titles, a few one-shots & minis related to the above, as well as a few other series supposedly set in the "Sigilverse" & some others that weren't, but I think those were the major ones. Some of the above titles were canceled as CrossGen's money problems started to become apparent.
I would guess the problems were a combination of expanding too fast, trying to do too much & Mark Alessi.
I liked Ruse, Abadazad and Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.
Thanks for your assessment of the various CrossGen titles, Keith. They don't really sound quite like my cup of tea, but as Luigi indicated, other people like them.
BTW, also in Wha-Huh, the writers made fun of Jim Shooter's New Universe. I won't say how, you'll have to read it for yourself. It's quite off-color, to say the least.
At least they say "Just kidding, Mr. Shooter" at the bottom!
You're welcome.
Looking back at it, CrossGen avoided doing a straight superhero title (although the power levels would qualify as superpowers) to differentiate themselves from Marvel & DC & to attract different readers.
IIRC Meridian had a strong woman/girl readership & was usually held up to counter claims that "girls don't read comics".
the writers made fun of Jim Shooter's New Universe
Didn't the writers of the New Universe books do that after Shooter was out? ;-)
I think my favorite knock against Shooter was an issue of Fantastic Four where this tall, geeky, fellow wouldn't leave Dazzler alone. No name given, but it was pretty obvious who it was supposed to be. ;-)
Just a quick update - there will be two new CrossGen titles debuting soon, I saw them advertised in the Marvel Previews magazine. I shall refrain from getting them, however!
Mark Of Charon #1-5
The recap pages start off, "Far beyond the most distant stars in the sky there exists a separate universe".
Makes it sound like a matter of distance when the various comics dealing with the Negation 'verse tend to go with the parallel universe idea that it's essentially occupying the same space, but on a different plane of existence.
In issue 1 Charon refers to the bearers of his "inverse sigil" as "ligis-bearers", but he calls them "sigil-bearers" in Issue 2, Page 5, Panel 4 and in Issue 5, Page 12, Panel 2.
Scion #43
The indicia reads "Aril 2004" instead of April 2004.
NANJAO. I think within the last few months there was an issue about whether or not colorists should be credited on covers. As I was indexing some CrossGen books for the Grand Comics Database I noticed that they credited colorists on covers.
Makes one wonder if other companies would have adopted crediting colorists on covers years ago if CrossGen had managed to stay in business?
Meridian is set on the world of Demetria where a disaster has made the surface mostly unlivable, but there are floating islands where people have made their homes
Untitled Meridian #9 reprinted in Meridian: Going To Ground
The Meridianites who had fled Meridian plan to leave Ring City, but don't want to arouse suspicion. However rather than use the Ring City sails they had been given so their ships could pass as Ring City ships, the artist drew the unmarked sails which would identify them as Meridian ships.
Untitled Meridian #11 Meridian: Going To Ground
Jad and Feabie are in the ship leading the Meridian ships through the rock to the new Meridian. Feabie's job is to ring a bell using a code that will tell the following ships how to avoid the obstacles.
However, despite accepting this important task Jad has to explain to Feabie what rings to use because she doesn't know the code.
If it wasn't clear, he's teaching her the code, while they are passing through the dangerous area, not before they even get there.
Scion was about Ethan who gets his Sigil just before competing in an annual tournament with the heir to the rival Raven empire and he ends up scarring the guy, sparking off a war.
Untitled Scion #13
Ethan asks Ashleigh what she's doing in the Raven's dungeons.
From his point of view he should assume it's because she was the head of the Underground. He doesn't know she's a member of the Raven royal family.
Untitled Scion #14
Mai Shen of the First rushes to stop Ethan, but Skink uses his power to stop her.
Why? Sigil-bearers can drain power from the First.
Route 666 #4
A report on the news mentions Cassie Starkweather is wanted for a triple murder.
However Dr. Melchior never mentioned her name when he called the police, so how did they know it?
Mystic was about Giselle Villard, a party girl, whose sister Genevieve is to become the Master of the Nueaville Guild when she receives a sigil of power that absorbs all seven of the Guild's Eternal spirits and becomes the most powerful mystic on the planet.
Mystic #4
Giselle's sigil doesn't drain any power from Darrow (a member of the First) when she touches him, although other sigil-bearers usually were surprised when they touched a First and their sigils drained the power automatically.
The first time her sigil drains power is when she's fighting Darrow & Animora in issue 14.
Mystic #11
Darrow says that on Elysia, "flowers bloom in colors that would strike the sight from your mundane eyes, the mearest taste of the fruits on which we dine would shatter your tiny minds".
And yet, when Ilahn & Reesha were taken to Elysia in Meridian #14, neither of them went blind from the view.
After telling Momo of Ingra's banishment of Animora, Darrow says, "I remained a pariah for more time than your kind can count."
Animora fought the original Guild Masters 500 years earlier. Admittedly, in CrossGen Chronicles #5 she did say, "I've been so long recouping my strength after my banishment.", but still given that the First are tied in with universal energies I can't imagine it would take all that long.
CrossGen Chronicles #5
Tells what happened 500 years ago when Animora faced the Guild Masters.
The big problem is that she didn't actually do anything of note. In issues of Mystic that came out prior to this issue, people talked of Animora nearly destroying Ciress before the seven Guild Masters stopped her, but here she just shows up on Ciress's third moon confronts some of the Guild Masters and they contact 4 others and work together to defeat her. So basically people on Ciress would have no reason to believe there even was an Animora.
Nadia of Tarot Guild sacrifices herself to stop Animora, and while the other seven Guilds become the leaders of Ciress, the Tarot Guild fades away to obscurity.
Wha? Guess the spin doctors of most of the other Guilds really worked hard to undercut her contribution.
Mystic: The Demon Queen volume 2
The back cover blurb says an accident let her absorb the guild spirits.
Uh, no. The glowy-eyed beings intentionally gave her a sigil that could do that. Now had the blurb said she unintentionally did it, that would be correct.
I was rereading Edge volumes 2 & 3 which reprinted Sigil #16-19, which is the introduction of Brath to the Sigilverse. Having read the Brath solo series a few months ago, I have to say Brath is a poorly thought out creation.
Brath is a barbarian from a Britain-like part of his world and his people are fighting a Roman-like invasion force. Brath's sigil gives him the power of communication.
Ummmmm... yeah...
Now I'm not saying that giving a warrior the power to communicate with others is bad, but communication is a two-way street. The Rome-like invaders (Domnians) had no interest in listening to barbarians so the power was a waste. Heck when Chuck Dixon did the solo series, I don't think he used it once and he really didn't mind when Solus came around removing the sigil-bearers sigils.
The one possible use for the power in-story, Sam and Brath being able to communicate turns out to be something any sigil-bearer can do as we see when Sam meets Sephie is Sigil #20 and their Sigils allow them to understand one another.
Crux #19
Verityn seems confused by the reference to Danik, but Verityn was the only one who knew the mysterious guy who'd been assisting them was Danik.
I'm guessing then-new writer Chuck Dixon got confused about who knew what. It would have been better if Geromi didn't know who Danik was.