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Arcanum
Armageddon is coming. Which side will you choose? Writer/artist Brandon Peterson (Ultimate X-Men) enters the world of Arcanum and discovers the "Avatars," human beings who have become the living manifestations of War, Love, Death, and more. Split into two factions, the forces of goodness struggle to stop the machinations of an ancient being with the knowledge of how to destroy the world.
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
About the author
Brandon Peterson
406 books8 followersBrandon Peterson is a comic book artist best known for runs on Marvel and DC series as well as serving as Crossgen Comics art director for a time. He also wrote as well as drew his creator-owned creation Arcanum.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 7, 2010
I bought this book on the Free Comic Book Day celebration at Mundo Fantasma, the one shop here in Portugal I still buy comics, if not for the price, which in Portugal is quite expensive compared to buying at Amazon.co.uk for example, definitely for the people working there, really helpful and and knowledgeable and to support the effort of maintaining such a business in a country with so little love for comics (yet, I hope). I knew nothing of Arcanum apart from the author, Brandon Peterson, from some of his Marvel works but the description of a story with magic and avatars always piques my curiosity.
SPOILERS WARNING
Arcanum has a good original beginning, with an Avatar running from others being accused of murdering one of them as you find they are all trying to find a new Avatar who´s own power is just awakening and scaring her. The plot in then developed as a pyramid, with the reader finding out there is a worse villain each time he thinks he has seen it all. It is interesting to see the story from the new Avatar's point of view, as she actually doesn't know a thing about what's happening to her. Eventually we learn that the good guys' leader is brother of the bad buys' apparent/initial leader, and this is the first of many clichés that plague the story in my opinion. Readers find that the Avatar of Darkness is being manipulated by a human wizard that has been alive for 800 years and wants the power of gods. Then we find that there is an even bigger villain, Death, who seems to see everyone's death as the one way to end humanity's and his own suffering and has been manipulating every Avatar to that end. As the Avatar of Life, the new avatar, exposes Death's plan, the Avatars run with their power through a portal to the god's plane and Death and a now powerless wizard stay behind with their plans frustrated. One point in favour of the story was keeping Death initially as an accepted neutral being and having an Avatar of Life without an opposing Avatar of Death (Death is described as a cursed immortal man, different from the Avatars) even though in the end it's Life that exposes Death's machination.
NO MORE SPOILERS
I must say I enjoyed reading it, even while feeling the story was told too fast, finished hastily and was cuffed to some clichés. It was still quite interesting to learn the mythology created, the development of each group's relationship and the way the Avatar of Life reacts to her power, stands out for what she believes and ends up having a definite importance to the whole plot. The illustration is very good, adding a lot to the story and to help understand the characters' personalities.
I have published this review on my blog.
SPOILERS WARNING
Arcanum has a good original beginning, with an Avatar running from others being accused of murdering one of them as you find they are all trying to find a new Avatar who´s own power is just awakening and scaring her. The plot in then developed as a pyramid, with the reader finding out there is a worse villain each time he thinks he has seen it all. It is interesting to see the story from the new Avatar's point of view, as she actually doesn't know a thing about what's happening to her. Eventually we learn that the good guys' leader is brother of the bad buys' apparent/initial leader, and this is the first of many clichés that plague the story in my opinion. Readers find that the Avatar of Darkness is being manipulated by a human wizard that has been alive for 800 years and wants the power of gods. Then we find that there is an even bigger villain, Death, who seems to see everyone's death as the one way to end humanity's and his own suffering and has been manipulating every Avatar to that end. As the Avatar of Life, the new avatar, exposes Death's plan, the Avatars run with their power through a portal to the god's plane and Death and a now powerless wizard stay behind with their plans frustrated. One point in favour of the story was keeping Death initially as an accepted neutral being and having an Avatar of Life without an opposing Avatar of Death (Death is described as a cursed immortal man, different from the Avatars) even though in the end it's Life that exposes Death's machination.
NO MORE SPOILERS
I must say I enjoyed reading it, even while feeling the story was told too fast, finished hastily and was cuffed to some clichés. It was still quite interesting to learn the mythology created, the development of each group's relationship and the way the Avatar of Life reacts to her power, stands out for what she believes and ends up having a definite importance to the whole plot. The illustration is very good, adding a lot to the story and to help understand the characters' personalities.
I have published this review on my blog.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 12, 2020
Image comics in the 90s ran hot and cold, (usually cold), but this one had potential. The ending felt a little rushed, so I'm not sure if it got canceled and Brandon had to come up with an ending quick, or if it was the planned ending all along. It wasn't a bad ending, but it just felt like the series had more coming.
The art wasn't bad, and while I found it to be a little overwritten at times, the story wasn't bad either. I notice that Image books back in the day tended to either be overwritten and wordy, or underwritten and jumpy. This one was wordy, but I suppose wordy is better than confusing.
Overall this was a pretty cool story dealing with magical avatars that was probably a labor of love for Brandon Peterson. I'm glad he got to tell it, even if he probably had more to tell.
The art wasn't bad, and while I found it to be a little overwritten at times, the story wasn't bad either. I notice that Image books back in the day tended to either be overwritten and wordy, or underwritten and jumpy. This one was wordy, but I suppose wordy is better than confusing.
Overall this was a pretty cool story dealing with magical avatars that was probably a labor of love for Brandon Peterson. I'm glad he got to tell it, even if he probably had more to tell.
September 12, 2023
Holy friggin shit, this sucks hard. Atrocious writing, art that has aged like milk out of the fridge for two/three years, they really made a full 8-issues storyline out of this? how? it's no wonder nobody remembers this crap, for good reasons. Avoid with no remorse whatsoever.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews