Writer: Gerald Cooper
Art: Eddy Barrows
Colors: Tim Ogul with Oren Kramek
Publisher: InVision Comics
I often have friends tell me to pick up certain Indie comics that will tickle my spoiled and sometimes starving cosmic comics appetite. Usually, it is an appetite not satisfied. I cannot say that about the wonderful world being created by writer Gerald Cooper in GENECY.
This cosmic comic, I believe, has a voice, a direction and a future.
The adventure starts off when, like Billy Batson, Kaizaxx of the planet Tanaan is led to a great power that will be the key (literally, in this case) to a great life change.
Kaizaxx and thousands of others are being held captive by an extremely feared and militaristic peoples known as the Grunnod, a race rough-shotting it across an entire galaxy. Our hero, a sort of Conan-type, survives an escape attempt from the Grunnod, but unfortunately he and several fellows are forced to kill a number of other escapees as space is minimal on the getaway crafts.
Eventually, he is the lone survivor of the captive group, but his final companion, rebellion leader Geshemah â apparently one of the Grunnod himself â gives Kaizaxx a cosmic Key, an ancient artifact from a long-forgotten time that is believed to unlock a door to an immense and immeasurable power. Many scholars, and others believed to be immortal, have died of old age trying to exhume it. (At one point, you can even see their bones!)
Following the destruction of his escape ship, Kaizaxx finds himself in an unknown realm and is urged by the Key to travel toward a magnificent dome. The weary warrior makes his way across the mists to a mythic land to confront gods and demons, winning the right, even though he doesnât know it, to become the vessel of rebirth for one of these beings and thus grant him the power to free his people and defeat his evil masters.
Sorta Conan meets the Silver Surfer, if you will!
Genecy is beautifully illustrated by Brazilian artist Eddy Barrows (Birds of Prey, Superman) and the colors of Tim Ogul and Oren Kramek bring this singing celestial tale to vivid life. But it is the pacing of the script, the decision to let the art do the talking or when dialogue may be needed, that is Cooperâs greatest strength here. We are seeing the beginning of a great comics opus, I think, by one who has a story to tell.
I plan to be along for the ride.
To purchase âGenecy #1â head on over to Indyplanet.com.
