Elixir

by Frank J. Barbiere, Ricky Mammone, Víctor Santos (Illustrator)

Creators Frank J. Barbiere ( Five Ghosts , Violent Love ), Ricky Mammone ( Second Chances ), and Victor Santos ( Polar , Until My Knuckles Bleed ) introduce you to a brand-new sci-fi/fantasy world!

In a fantastic vision of the future, magic has been replaced with technology.

Two factions are in conflict within a sprawling The Druids hold on to the past, while huge corporations exploit new technologies that threaten to eradicate magic forever. Mara, the daughter of a druid leader, becomes caught up in a dangerous mission to recover the elixir — a mysterious artifact that could restore magic and defeat the corporations once and for all. The only problem is it’s in the hands of her old mentor, a dangerous warrior who has mastered magic and the blade, and is driven by a personal vendetta to destroy the elixir at all costs. Pulled between her family and a choice that could shape the future forever, how far will Mara go to recover the elixir for herself… and what will she do with it?

Elixir mixes elements of magic and design from Final Fantasy with the artistic grit of Sin City to deliver a sci-fi/fantasy adventure with explosive action, sleek style, and unforgettable characters.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 16, 2023

About the author

Frank J. Barbiere is a #1 Amazon.com best-selling writer from New Jersey.

Frank is a former English teacher with degrees from Rutgers University and the Graduate School for Education.

After breaking into the comics industry with the creator-owned hit Five Ghosts (Image Comics), Frank has since worked for every major publisher in the U.S., as well as having a global presence in France (Glenat Comics), Italy (Cosmo Editoriale), and Spain (Norma) with his creator-owned work. He has written notable runs on Avengers World and Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D. at Marvel Comics, as well as the creator-owned series Black Market and Broken World (BOOM! Studios), The Revisionist (Aftershock Comics), Violent Love (Image Comics), and The White Suits (Dark Horse Comics).

In 2017, Frank began working as a writer and narrative designer in the video games industry. He has since contributed to the Destiny franchise and was lead writer on Darksiders Genesis and Ruined King: A League of Legends Story. He currently works as a Lead Writer at Skydance Interactive.

Reviews

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Engaging Sin City-style artwork can't make up for the muddled world-building and plot in Elixir. Supposedly, our technology driven future holds a secret coven of druids who are planning a great revival of magic through a special elixir. A rogue druid holds the elixir, intending to destroy it. Another druid, the daughter of the leader, has to get it back - and maybe fight her friend along the way.

There's a lot of simple back-and-forth, some light twists, and a few great actions scenes, largely courtesy of the artwork. None of it makes much sense, though - it feels like the authors had a multi-volume series in mind, then had to jam it all in one book. Elixir is fine for a quick perusal, perhaps, but not worth seeking out.

[Matt Sabonis · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars, but only for the art. I don’t understand why 99% of straight fantasy comics are so tired, thin, didactic, and unimaginative. I swear, Monstress is the only one that does it right.

[Villain E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some good, stylish artwork reminiscent of Darwin Cooke or Michael Avon Oeming with a hint of Frank Miller. The story had potential, but wasn't as strong.

In a world of super science which has moved on from magic, a group of Druids keep magic alive. The titular Elixir is the key to bringing magic back to prominence or destroying it completely. Big, unkillable guy who looks like Marv from Sin City gets control of the Elixir. Warrior daughter of the Druid leader pursues him, but gets herself into trouble. Her mother, the Druid leader, is up to something.

I could have used some more world building. Give me a better feel for the world of technology and the world of magic. Get me emotionally invested.

[Laurla2 · Rating 3 out of 5]

-3 stars. a little confusing at times, trying to decipher some of the art/drawings. there are frequently whole pages with no dialog.

i picked it up at the library from one of their table displays, but i forgot what the display was.

a world in which magic is dying has people fighting to destroy technology to bring magic back, and people fighting to keep technology.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

I had a hard time with this graphic novel: the story was underwhelming, lacking nuance, and very clichéd. The art was too Frank Miller to create a distinct style and substance to the story. We knew where it was going, despite not having been given any kind of reason or setting for the world itself. If anything, I felt like it was underwritten and lacking a good soul.

Story: Mara is a druid - protector of magic and bastion against the evils of technology. When one of their own goes rogue, she is enlisted by her mother to hunt him down. She knows he is going after the mysterious artifact Elixir - something that when you drink it, it will remake the world. Can she stop him in time?

There are four main characters: Mara, her mother (the manipulative head of the organization), Mara's manic pixie best friend (who uses tech against Mara's wishes), and the rogue druid who is looking for Elixir. That's about all the information we get on this world and it is frustrating - the lack of world building just raises a bunch of question marks and unravels the entire plot. The Elixir turned out to be pretty darn easy to find/use, despite being so powerful. And Mara's solution at the end is so simplistic as to be eye rolling.

The square jawed Frank Miller style of art feels VERY dated. I wish it would have explained or enhanced either the druids or the technology users but it really didn't give us any more insight into the story or the world building. Everything was serviceable but uninteresting and sadly it all felt so amateurish as a result. There wasn't enough meat here for this to have been a novel and the graphic novel format felt wasted as a result

This has a complete arc. There are 'surprises' that everyone saw coming and a few twists that were fairly uninteresting. As a time waster, I guess it's fine. I just expect more from a graphic novel these days. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Cornerofmadness · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like a 2.5 read. I see a lot of reviewers liked the art but I wasn't thrilled. The muddy chiaroscuro style isn't to my tastes. The idea here is we're in the point of view of the 'Druids" is some future setting where the Techies are ruining the world. There is nothing much new to this story line and others have done it better.

Because the world building is muddy too. We don't get a good grasp on why the Druids hate tech other than it's bad and exploitive. The blurb tells us this but we honestly don't really SEE it in the story so that's a failing. When one of their members, Claude's, son needs a mechanical heart he's ostracized and goes rogue (and seriously WHY does his fake heart look like he's trapped in an iron lung? We have better artificial hearts currently). Claude was the mentor of Mara (and her sister and her best friend) so of course Mara has to go after him.

Her mother specializes in gas lighting and is the leader of the Druids. Claude (and Mara/Mara's mother) are after the titular elixir as it's a panacea to destroy all tech or all magic depending on which group gets it. Where it is from, why hasn't it been used etc are all questions you're not getting answered. I'm sure more happened but it wasn't memorable enough for me to work it in to this review. I'm just glad it was a library book

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher.
Mara, a druid and magic user, lives in a world where technology and magic are divided. Her mentor gets ahold of the elixir, something that can completely remove magic or technology, and intends to remove magic with it. Mara is then tasked with finding him and stopping him.
The art was full of bold lines and mainly two tones. The story focuses on the need for balance between the tech world and the natural world. It can be seen as a morality tale for the reliance on technology today at the expense of nature and the natural world.

[Bandit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Science fiction meets fantasy in this adventure of a world torn between the old ways and the new. The Druids represent the former, and the daughter of the Druid leader must find the eponymous item to make sure her side wins. But it is currently in possession of an enormous warrior (and her old mentor) determined to destroy it. Cue in action.
This was a thoroughly “just okay” read. Nothing especially memorable about the plot or especially striking about the art. It went by quickly enough, entertained mildly, and was summarily forgotten.

[Clint · Rating 3 out of 5]

Santos’s art is by far the best thing about this comic, like a mix of Darwyn Cooke’s face/body shapes and Frank Miller’s heavy chiaroscuro, or maybe just Michael Oeming’s similar style. In any case, it looks great and I’ll keep an eye out for his name in the future.

Barbiere’s plotting and world-building are a rushed, undercooked mess that wants to say something about faith/nature vs. science/tech, but the best he can come up with is a hokey “I can see both sides” equivocation that amounts to nothing. At least Santos makes it look good though.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as compelling as the back of the book would have you believe, nor are the characters exactly "unforgettable." But it was solid, I liked the art style when it wasn't confusing, and I'm not gonna dump on it by any means. Absolutely adequate entertainment and interesting worldbuilding. I'd read more if there was any.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slapdash world that's all about the art. It's a world dominated by science but there's this Macguffin elixir that can convert everything to magic. The worldbuilding isn't very good or fleshed out. Santos's art is always interesting in an old school Frank Miller way.

[Seamus Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was engaging and the story was fast paced although it felt like a pilot episode that had to squeeze a lot in without going into detail on some of the major topics that were intriguing. I may come back to this to give the next volume one more try, but I'm not in any rush to.

[Jonathan Crabb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This graphic novel was really cool on several levels. First the story has a neat druid / nature / magic vs tech / machines dynamic which was cool. The art is also quite good. Simple story, but told interestingly.

[Therese Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Would’ve loved to love it, but I’m not a fan of the art, and the storyline was just poorly done.

[Dylan Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved a lot of the ideas in this, and the art was fantastic, but it just fell short with pacing and lack of firm world-building.

[Jasper · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think some of it went over my head but it was cool