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Translucid #1-6
Translucid
Every Hero needs a Villain. Love Thy Nemesis.
The Horse has been the arch-enemy of The Navigator for years. But The Horse feels The Navigator's moral compass slipping, and even a villain can’t let that happen. The Horse decides to get a closer look into The Navigator's past that he's buried deep in his subconscious and find out what drives a person to make the right choice, and what propels someone to make a selfish one. Created and written by Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudia Sanchez (Amory Wars) and Chondra Echert (Key of Z) with stunning neon art from newcomer Daniel Bayliss, this volume collects the complete story originally released in TRANSLUCID #1-#6.
The Horse has been the arch-enemy of The Navigator for years. But The Horse feels The Navigator's moral compass slipping, and even a villain can’t let that happen. The Horse decides to get a closer look into The Navigator's past that he's buried deep in his subconscious and find out what drives a person to make the right choice, and what propels someone to make a selfish one. Created and written by Coheed and Cambria frontman Claudia Sanchez (Amory Wars) and Chondra Echert (Key of Z) with stunning neon art from newcomer Daniel Bayliss, this volume collects the complete story originally released in TRANSLUCID #1-#6.
160 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2014
12 people are currently reading
231 people want to read
About the author
Claudio Sánchez
126 books387 followersClaudio Paul Sanchez III (born March 12, 1978, in Suffern, New York, United States) is an American writer and musician of Puerto Rican and Italian descent best known for being the lead singer and guitarist for the alternative/progressive rock group Coheed and Cambria. He is the creator of the comic book series The Amory Wars, as well as Key of Z and Kill Audio, both co-written with wife Chondra Echert. Sanchez co-authored the novel Year of the Black Rainbow with Peter David.
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio...
From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
May 25, 2015
For someone who's paid to write across multiple medias and multiple genres, I've never thought Claudio Sanchez does it very well. His stories and songs often have some interesting ideas at their heart, but the way gets muddled with tangents, asides and elements of worldbuilding that not only have nothing to do with the central concept, but also muddy his ability to see that central concept through.
Translucid is a little better than usual, but not by much. Like the description says, here a villain (The Horse) has decided his heroic archnemesis (The Navigator) has lost his knack for hero'ing, and so the villain hatches a mildly elaborate plan to take the hero down for his own good. Parallel to this, we also follow the story of a young boy obsessed with superheroes whose family is falling apart.
There's several problems throughout the story that have to do with Sanchez's obsessions with doubling, clones, generational tales and past lives. Until the end, it's really never clear if the boy is destined to be the Navigator, or create the Navigator as a comic book. In retrospect there are several clues that make the answer quite obvious, but on a first read the lines are pretty blurry, since it's rarely clear what elements of the story are real, and what are dreams. It's also not clear if the Horse and the Navigator are different iterations of the same person, since several of the scene transitions and dialogic references point to very specific similarities between them that go beyond typical hero/villain codependency.
While I don't mind attributing some of this to my poor reading, I've absorbed enough of Sanchez's work to know that this is a common problem. He's more likely to use story elements like visual reference and story transition to confuse the plot instead of enhance it, and he doesn't use this confusion to do anything but creates ripples of effect without further investigation.
The fact that the boy COULD be both a hero and a future comic writer, or that the Horse and Navigator COULD be one and the same, isn't followed up on in a meaningful way. Sanchez comes incredibly, incredibly close to tying it all together -- to building some larger idea about creators, stories, characters, and worlds -- but it's ultimately all smashed into a two-page plot twist that attempts to answer all of these questions at once, without really giving them any one of them the attention they deserve. It's a series of related ideas that make for a really excellent, fruitful rough draft, but six issues of associative imagery is not the same as a story that works.
And if that's all bunk for you -- if you see the meandering story logic and say "yeah man, but it's fuckin trippy and here's all the ways he followed up on his ideas and shit and also DRUGS," I'll point out that the actual center of the story is actually never developed in any real way.
Translucid's main question -- the one that fills all of its ad copy and PR -- is about the crumbling morality of heroes. The Navigator has fallen so slack in his duties at the beginning of the story that it takes his archnemesis to realize the problem. But instead of exploring this -- of digging deep into why the Navigator has lost his way -- we're treated to what is, in its simplest explanation, a six-issue origin story that meditates on the beginnings of heroes, and not their endings. There's only one scene in which the Navigator briefly reflects on his declining concern for hero'ing, but it's lazy, expositional, and hamfisted -- one of the story's weakest points.
For the most part, this is yet another example of Sanchez not really knowing what it is he set out to talk about, and not taking the time to figure it out before he makes his work public. That his consistently undeveloped ideas are reinforced as acceptable by his fanbase is unfortunate, but unsurprising. As a musician he's extremely talented, and worthy of a devoted following. But I've always assumed his popularity was in spite of his convoluted storytelling and rambling lyrics, and not because of it.
Translucid is a little better than usual, but not by much. Like the description says, here a villain (The Horse) has decided his heroic archnemesis (The Navigator) has lost his knack for hero'ing, and so the villain hatches a mildly elaborate plan to take the hero down for his own good. Parallel to this, we also follow the story of a young boy obsessed with superheroes whose family is falling apart.
There's several problems throughout the story that have to do with Sanchez's obsessions with doubling, clones, generational tales and past lives. Until the end, it's really never clear if the boy is destined to be the Navigator, or create the Navigator as a comic book. In retrospect there are several clues that make the answer quite obvious, but on a first read the lines are pretty blurry, since it's rarely clear what elements of the story are real, and what are dreams. It's also not clear if the Horse and the Navigator are different iterations of the same person, since several of the scene transitions and dialogic references point to very specific similarities between them that go beyond typical hero/villain codependency.
While I don't mind attributing some of this to my poor reading, I've absorbed enough of Sanchez's work to know that this is a common problem. He's more likely to use story elements like visual reference and story transition to confuse the plot instead of enhance it, and he doesn't use this confusion to do anything but creates ripples of effect without further investigation.
The fact that the boy COULD be both a hero and a future comic writer, or that the Horse and Navigator COULD be one and the same, isn't followed up on in a meaningful way. Sanchez comes incredibly, incredibly close to tying it all together -- to building some larger idea about creators, stories, characters, and worlds -- but it's ultimately all smashed into a two-page plot twist that attempts to answer all of these questions at once, without really giving them any one of them the attention they deserve. It's a series of related ideas that make for a really excellent, fruitful rough draft, but six issues of associative imagery is not the same as a story that works.
And if that's all bunk for you -- if you see the meandering story logic and say "yeah man, but it's fuckin trippy and here's all the ways he followed up on his ideas and shit and also DRUGS," I'll point out that the actual center of the story is actually never developed in any real way.
Translucid's main question -- the one that fills all of its ad copy and PR -- is about the crumbling morality of heroes. The Navigator has fallen so slack in his duties at the beginning of the story that it takes his archnemesis to realize the problem. But instead of exploring this -- of digging deep into why the Navigator has lost his way -- we're treated to what is, in its simplest explanation, a six-issue origin story that meditates on the beginnings of heroes, and not their endings. There's only one scene in which the Navigator briefly reflects on his declining concern for hero'ing, but it's lazy, expositional, and hamfisted -- one of the story's weakest points.
For the most part, this is yet another example of Sanchez not really knowing what it is he set out to talk about, and not taking the time to figure it out before he makes his work public. That his consistently undeveloped ideas are reinforced as acceptable by his fanbase is unfortunate, but unsurprising. As a musician he's extremely talented, and worthy of a devoted following. But I've always assumed his popularity was in spite of his convoluted storytelling and rambling lyrics, and not because of it.
February 11, 2021
Heroes can't turn back time. Only villains can do that. The story starts at the tipping point of the relationship between The Navigator and his archnemesis The Horse.
The Horse isn't the type of troubled monster who enjoys watching innocent people die. But he's no saint. And he's getting tired of his codependent relationship with the hero. The only way to get his identity back is to end The Navigator. He creates a way to unravel the traumas that made The Navigator a hero.
The relationship between the hero and the villains is the driving force of the story. The ending catches you by surprise. In a good, but rather dark, way. Translucid grabbed me from the very first scene, and the introduction of The Navigator's troubled backstory contrasted with The Horse's methodological actions sealed the deal.
The Horse isn't the type of troubled monster who enjoys watching innocent people die. But he's no saint. And he's getting tired of his codependent relationship with the hero. The only way to get his identity back is to end The Navigator. He creates a way to unravel the traumas that made The Navigator a hero.
The relationship between the hero and the villains is the driving force of the story. The ending catches you by surprise. In a good, but rather dark, way. Translucid grabbed me from the very first scene, and the introduction of The Navigator's troubled backstory contrasted with The Horse's methodological actions sealed the deal.
January 17, 2016
It's at least a little my own fault that I ended up disappointed by this book. I found the first issue absolutely fascinating and thought this could be the next Six-Gun Gorilla, i.e. a comic with an unusual premise that ends up brilliantly exploring meta concepts. I still feel like that potential is there but it wasn't fulfilled.
There's an ongoing question of whether the protagonist Cornelius grows up to be The Navigator or if The Navigator is actually the boy's future fictional creation. Then we wonder if Cornelius becomes The Horse and his brother The Navigator. We're even led to wonder if The Navigator and The Horse could be the same person. Unfortunately we end up with the least interesting answer to these questions - Cornelius grows up to be The Navigator.
While I liked reading about Cornelius' growth and the story of the Navigator's origin, the relationship between the Horse and the Navigator wasn't fleshed out enough for me and it wasn't clear to me why the Navigator would completely stop fighting crime while the Horse was in prison or how he reached a point where the Horse decided he wasn't being enough of a hero anymore. Which is unfortunate since it seems like the story intended to explore that relationship more than the origin story. This misplaced focus made the ending feel a little hollow to me, I think the story needed another issue or two to actually tell the story in the middle that we don't see and are expected to somehow feel in the gaps of instead.
There's also thing where the story has sort of a side focus on Cornelius' mother and how she won't leave her abusive marriage and how this mindset stuck with Cornelius as well to his detriment. I found this plot point really odd and uncomfortable as it felt like it lacked understanding or empathy for victims of abuse.
The art was excellent throughout, I don't have any other comments on it.
There's an ongoing question of whether the protagonist Cornelius grows up to be The Navigator or if The Navigator is actually the boy's future fictional creation. Then we wonder if Cornelius becomes The Horse and his brother The Navigator. We're even led to wonder if The Navigator and The Horse could be the same person. Unfortunately we end up with the least interesting answer to these questions - Cornelius grows up to be The Navigator.
While I liked reading about Cornelius' growth and the story of the Navigator's origin, the relationship between the Horse and the Navigator wasn't fleshed out enough for me and it wasn't clear to me why the Navigator would completely stop fighting crime while the Horse was in prison or how he reached a point where the Horse decided he wasn't being enough of a hero anymore. Which is unfortunate since it seems like the story intended to explore that relationship more than the origin story. This misplaced focus made the ending feel a little hollow to me, I think the story needed another issue or two to actually tell the story in the middle that we don't see and are expected to somehow feel in the gaps of instead.
There's also thing where the story has sort of a side focus on Cornelius' mother and how she won't leave her abusive marriage and how this mindset stuck with Cornelius as well to his detriment. I found this plot point really odd and uncomfortable as it felt like it lacked understanding or empathy for victims of abuse.
The art was excellent throughout, I don't have any other comments on it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 12, 2017
Dare I say it? Dare I say that I enjoyed this more than the Amory Wars?
For being such a small graphic novel this packs a mean punch. There's layers of depth that make it two stories at once; one relating the story of a young boy's rough childhood and the other a weird camaraderie between a superhero and a super villain.
The superhero portion definitely reminded me of the greats: Batman and the Joker, Superman and Lex Luthor. Men who are so intertwined they almost feed off each other despite being on supposedly opposing sides. Our villain makes decision as a direct result of our hero, and if it isn't love, it's at least respect. I really enjoyed their relationship.
Watching Cornelius grow up was another matter entirely. At first I wasn't sure who he was going to grow up to be--obvious signs pointed to the Navigator, but there were instances where I wasn't quite so sure--where his emotions and actions seemed to lean more toward the Horse. I think that was the point: our heroes and villains walk a fine line that they could easily cross if they're not looking where they're going.
Plus the artwork was just dynamite. The color splashes drew the eye immediately and I loved how the panels were traversing back and forth between childhood and future. They were easily identifiable because of the color schemes and designs, and I appreciated the ability of the artist to make scene changes so seamless without the "meanwhile, back in 2011" kind of input.
I loved this. 5 stars.
For being such a small graphic novel this packs a mean punch. There's layers of depth that make it two stories at once; one relating the story of a young boy's rough childhood and the other a weird camaraderie between a superhero and a super villain.
The superhero portion definitely reminded me of the greats: Batman and the Joker, Superman and Lex Luthor. Men who are so intertwined they almost feed off each other despite being on supposedly opposing sides. Our villain makes decision as a direct result of our hero, and if it isn't love, it's at least respect. I really enjoyed their relationship.
Watching Cornelius grow up was another matter entirely. At first I wasn't sure who he was going to grow up to be--obvious signs pointed to the Navigator, but there were instances where I wasn't quite so sure--where his emotions and actions seemed to lean more toward the Horse. I think that was the point: our heroes and villains walk a fine line that they could easily cross if they're not looking where they're going.
Plus the artwork was just dynamite. The color splashes drew the eye immediately and I loved how the panels were traversing back and forth between childhood and future. They were easily identifiable because of the color schemes and designs, and I appreciated the ability of the artist to make scene changes so seamless without the "meanwhile, back in 2011" kind of input.
I loved this. 5 stars.
October 6, 2017
It was a great story of the rise and fall of a superhero. Displaying all the gritty details of his horrific childhood that ultimately realized his end. I loved the take on the villain "building up" the superhero; as if his only purpose was to make him realize his potential and become a true hero. Although, all superhero's can come to their end if they aren't immortal. The hallucinatory take on a lot of the superhero's experiences was a really neat twist to a story such as this. I enjoyed it as I have all of Claudio's work!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2023
An inventive, "meta" story about the relationship between superhero and villain. The artwork has fantastic use of color; the pictures pop off the page. The story is a fresh and new take on classic superhero tropes, with surface stereotypes and hidden complexity. The collection of the six-issue comic includes a cover variant gallery and an outline of each issue.
NB: I purchased a copy signed by Claudio Sanchez at a Coheed & Cambria concert. All graphic novels at the concert were sold at cover price; kudos to Claudio for making these available without upcharge.
NB: I purchased a copy signed by Claudio Sanchez at a Coheed & Cambria concert. All graphic novels at the concert were sold at cover price; kudos to Claudio for making these available without upcharge.
March 14, 2016
Really good short series. I read it in digital format first but bought it as a trade paperback after. The art is phenomenal. Kind of a mix of indie realism with standard super-hero fare. Mix in some LSD and schizophrenia and some crazy cool stuff happens.
The story centers around a super-hero and super-villian relationship that reminded me a lot of Batman with the Joker in some sense. The entire thing is intertwined with some coming-of-age, or at least behind the mask, sort of flashback scenes that put it all together. The boy is extremely troubled in a terrible situation, but he's super intelligent. The writing is excellent and not spoon fed to the reader. I will likely read this multiple times. Great book.
The story centers around a super-hero and super-villian relationship that reminded me a lot of Batman with the Joker in some sense. The entire thing is intertwined with some coming-of-age, or at least behind the mask, sort of flashback scenes that put it all together. The boy is extremely troubled in a terrible situation, but he's super intelligent. The writing is excellent and not spoon fed to the reader. I will likely read this multiple times. Great book.
Read
July 1, 2022Good Concept, Weird Execution
I enjoyed the art style and concept of this series, but it became convoluted and hard to follow early on. It was a bit disorienting.
I enjoyed the art style and concept of this series, but it became convoluted and hard to follow early on. It was a bit disorienting.
July 4, 2019
This was an amazing read. I went into this story without any idea of what it was about and I’m glad I did. Having no prior knowledge really helped blur the lines of good and evil in a way that worked well with the plot. I find that many comics that try to obscure information from the reader do so in a way that is overbearing and confusing. This story was told in a way that kept me guessing and engaged. Not once was I put off or felt like the story was going off the rails. The hallucinations were beautifully illustrated and they were great at making me wonder what was real and what wasn’t. The ending of this story was so well done that I kept wondering how I had not read this before. The theme of duality between hero and villain is one I’ve seen before, but to see it broken in the way that The Horse broke it in this story was brilliant. A hero chooses not to kill a villain at the cost of others, so the villain kills the hero, not for selfish purposes, but for the good of the people the hero couldn’t protect anymore. That blew me away. I could talk about the ending of this work all day.
Aside from the amazing story, I was really entertained by the art. Like I said, the hallucinations were so cool to look at, as were the heroes and villains. This story does not rely on over the top fights to keep the reader engaged. It truly is a perfect balance of an amazing story and unreal art.
I absolutely recommend
Aside from the amazing story, I was really entertained by the art. Like I said, the hallucinations were so cool to look at, as were the heroes and villains. This story does not rely on over the top fights to keep the reader engaged. It truly is a perfect balance of an amazing story and unreal art.
I absolutely recommend
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2023
The Horse and the Navigator have a codependent relationship as they play their Batman / Joker games. As the Horse finally decides to end the Navigator once and for all, we flash back to the Navigator's awful childhood. I love how the depictions of Navigator's synthesia is drawn. Given that this is written by one of the dudes from Coheed and Cambria, this is much better than I expected.
May 3, 2024
Mediocre. 2.5. Some great coloring by Adam Metcalf, and the buildings and streetscapes were good, with quality detail, but I found the character design dubious, and the scripting cliched and hackneyed.
Some interesting concepts, and threatening to tip over into something better, but not quite there.
Some interesting concepts, and threatening to tip over into something better, but not quite there.
September 26, 2017
A fantastic story that dissects heroism in comic books. Sanchez takes the intimate dynamic between The Navigator and The Horse, and weaves a narrative about of the kinds of loss that create and corrupt. Do yourself a favor and pick up this volume.
September 30, 2024
Very very good.
I loved every page of this book. The art alone is reason enough to read it. Had a nice flow of story as well. Give it a shot. Its kind of sad but very good from start to finish.
I loved every page of this book. The art alone is reason enough to read it. Had a nice flow of story as well. Give it a shot. Its kind of sad but very good from start to finish.
October 28, 2024
Basically an origin story in a similar style to what Marvel does with its fringe characters in mini series. The big difference is that there is more freedom to what the writer wants with the characters as the story isn't beholden to continuity.
Art is slightly above solid.
Art is slightly above solid.
May 27, 2020
Mind Illusions
Great comic (graphic novel). Claudio & Chondra do an intriguing storyline. Heartbreaking yet action packed in a psychodelic type of way.
Great comic (graphic novel). Claudio & Chondra do an intriguing storyline. Heartbreaking yet action packed in a psychodelic type of way.
October 14, 2020
The story was interesting and the artwork was wonderful!
January 22, 2024
Husband recommended this comic and it was cool.
February 7, 2025
The art is out of this world amazing. The story was so bizarre and sad. I couldn’t tell if it was a personal story about abuse and drugs. Or …. Well i think it was a story about child abuse and heroine addiction, but you tell me.
October 20, 2015
I enjoyed the general concept behind this comic- raising the question of where you draw the line between villain and hero, and what ethics truly define a hero. However, as other reviewers have pointed out, the story line is unnecessarily confusing. While reading the outline in the back pages helped, I'm still not sure what is "real" vs what is hologram, and how the Horse and the Navigator were formed. I think a little more substance to the series would have been beneficial, or a continuation of the series for a back story. I did really like the graphics though!
October 3, 2014
Man, this book is strange! But it is also awesome. And in some parts of the story pretty deep. The story starts off with you asking a bunch of questions about what is going on. Sanchez does a good job of slowly revealing the plot and how everything is going to mesh together.
The ending...oh goodness the ending. Some people are going to love it and some are going to despise it. It caught me off guard, but now that I've had time to process it, I think I like it. Either way this is a comic that shouldn't be missed. Unique, brilliant, and beautiful just begin to describe it.
The ending...oh goodness the ending. Some people are going to love it and some are going to despise it. It caught me off guard, but now that I've had time to process it, I think I like it. Either way this is a comic that shouldn't be missed. Unique, brilliant, and beautiful just begin to describe it.
April 27, 2015
This is a well-done deconstruction of the superhero genre. It draws from the relationship between Batman and the Joker, but crafts its own connections between the hero and villain, and the supporting cast. I don't want to say much more for fear of spoiling the way the story unfolds. The art is consistently good and establishes the tone of the world. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and recommend it to anyone who enjoys superhero comics.
September 9, 2016
Not my favorite of Claudio's writing. Very much all over the place and kind of hard to follow. Now, it could be that I just read Daytripper, but this just didn't do it for me.
May 19, 2014
So excited to get the next 5 <3
October 27, 2014
The description actually explains the book really well. The book starts out a little slow but really picks up in the second half. The art and the overall idea of the story is worth the read.
July 2, 2015
if I could give any book a 6 star out of five rating, it would be this one:)
September 2, 2015
Felt a bit too short overall, but loved loved loved the story, the intertwining, the art and the colors. Well done, Claudio and friends.
December 4, 2015
I'm so angry.
January 1, 2017
Almost delivers on its promise, but nonetheless salts the earth to get there.
May 8, 2018
One can really sense the care and thoughtfulness put into this book, but there were problems as well. I did not much care for the artwork or the character design. The impractical horse headed villain is just too silly, and I really don’t understand why it was so important to drive the chess metaphor to such extreme lengths.
Overall, it is an interesting story that is a step above the standard comic book heroics.
Overall, it is an interesting story that is a step above the standard comic book heroics.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews