Reviews: The Legend Known as...

[From Hypergeek.com]

I really enjoyed 'The Legend Known As...' I get sent quite a few comics for review from small companies, and you never quite know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised with this one though. The concept is really quite riveting, in that it features a post apocalyptic superhero story, told from the perspective of the humans they helped, and legends that built up around them. That's pretty damn high-concept, something that can be quite risky for a smaller title, but Burness and Howard manage to pull it off flawlessly! This is in part due to Burness' excellent storytelling skills, plotting, and dialogue. The idea of having the story told in retrospect from people who bore witness to these legendary characters is a stroke of genius, and gives the story a really human quality, making it very character driven. This works in the stories favour, because how many comics have you read about masked vigilantes running around and kicking ass? Lots! This story is more about the creation of a legend than just the good guys beating the bad guys.

I was really surprised with the slickness of the artwork on this book. It looks like Steven Howard has put lots of heart and soul into his work. The scenes which are set it the 'now' of the older Tom are absolutely beautiful, and that opening shot of Tom looking out at the setting sun is really quite breathtaking in it's level of detail, and the use of colours on the water and clouds has a wonderful effect. The scenes in the 'past' of the post-apocalyptic city are also really well done. He changes up the style a little bit, throwing in some different drawing techniques, and uses a much more subdued colour palette, all of which helps to make the city look like a grim, hellish, industrial nightmare! Being a character driven piece, it's always good to have well drawn characters as well as scenery, and Howard does a great job of this. Particularly good, is his use of expression to help convey emotion. A lot of the story is told in exposition, so this comes in quite important.

'The Legend Know As...' is a really wonderful little book that took me quite by surprise. This was a really well produced comic with a fascinating story and absolutely amazing artwork. I will definitely be checking out the rest of this miniseries, and I recommend that you do too. Epico have a great title here that could really make a name for them!