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I dunno. Just drew this to kill some time. I think the folds in the robe turned out fairly well.

Review: The Nobody

One day, in a rural fishing village where nothing much usually happens, a drifter covered in bandages walks into town. He rents a room at the local inn, while the other residents of Large Mouth keep a suspicious eye on him. There's a rumor that the he's a wanted man - or maybe a victim of a horrible accident. Only the stranger himself knows the truth, and he's not telling anyone. This is the story of The Nobody.

The Nobody is written and drawn by Jeff Lemire, relatively new to the graphic novel scene. Prior to this, he produced the Essex County Trilogy, which was published by Top Shelf Productions and nominated for both a Harvey Award and two Eisner Awards (very prestigous comics awards, for those of you who don't know). The Nobody was published last year by Vertigo, who also publish his current ongoing series, Sweet Tooth.

Review: Crossed

Crossed is a graphic novel set in a post-apocalyptic world, where a mysterious plague causes its victims to pursue their foulest desires - like rape, murder and cannibalism (and not necessarily in that order). Carriers of the virus are known as The Crossed due to a cross-like rash that appears on their faces. The story follows a group of survivors on the way to Alaska, where they hope they'll be relatively safe.

Crossed is written by Garth Ennis, who you may be familiar with from Preacher, The Punisher and The Boys. Many of Ennis' usual themes show up here, mostly bodily mutilation and sexual depravity, occasionally tempered with dark humor. We also see moments of male friendship and criticism of religion, which is par for the course with Ennis. Crossed is certainly not his best work, but probably his darkest and most unrestrained. The artist, Jacen Burrows, I admit I'm less familiar with. He has worked on various series for Avatar Press, perhaps most notably Alan Moore's The Courtyard. Burrows' style can be compared to another of Ennis' frequent collaborators, Steve Dillon. It is clear, competent storytelling, but not very dynamic. Burrows draws meticulous backgrounds, though.