City Of Dust: A Philip Krome Story

City of Dust #1-5

by Steve Niles, Zid (Artist), Brandon Chng (Artist)

Horror writer Steve Niles unveils a chilling vision of the future where religion and fiction have been outlawed and the police now patrol for crimes of the imagination. When a bizarre killer strikes the city, homicide detective Philip Khrome must break the very laws he upholds to counter an enemy who has brought the monsters of myth back to life.

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

144 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2009

About the author

STEVE NILES is one of the writers responsible for bringing horror comics back to prominence, and was recently named by Fangoria magazine as one of it's "13 rising talents who promise to keep us terrified for the next 25 years."

Niles is currently working for the four top American comic publishers - Marvel, DC, Image and Dark Horse. He got his start in the industry when he formed his own publishing company called Arcane Comix, where he published, edited and adapted several comics and anthologies for Eclipse Comics. His adaptations include works by Clive Barker, Richard Matheson and Harlan Ellison.

Steve resides in Los Angeles in his bachelor pad with one cat. While there's no crawlspace, there is a questionable closet in one corner and no one is quite sure what is hidden in there...but we have an idea.

--from the author's website

Reviews

[Mike]

An interesting tale - makes it seem like Niles has more to his game than creepy vampires. He's created a well thought-out future world base on a couple of ideas growing today, and really imbued the world with the implications of how that would play itself out.

It's a lot of fun to explore new worlds like this - seeing where they're still the same, and tracing the origins and outcroppings of how and where they're different.

Niles has more up his sleeve than horror, though that's still where his natural strengths lie.

The true test of how good a read this is: would I look forward to reading more of it? Yes. I wouldn't put aside new Bendis, Brubaker, Fraction, Ellis or Ennis for this, but I would definitely add it to my pile of "will read" books.

[Kris Shaw]

I like Steve Niles' writing, but I am sick and tired of dystopian views of the future. This series riffs on a number of familiar stories (1984, Farenheit 454, Blade Runner) but is decent in its own right. The artwork and computer coloring are breathtaking, which is par for the course for Radical Publishing's output. I have no problem plunking down cash for their products. My major gripe is that the title of this series has nothing to do with the events that occur here. Yes, it takes place in a city, but there is no mention of dust. No metaphor, no dust superpower, no drug called dust...nothing. It's as dumb a name as the movie Murder By Numbers with Sandra Bullock, in which the story had nothing to do with numbers.

Heavy duty, high quality coated stock paper really brings out the artwork and colors. This book also has sewn binding, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. I am ill, but at least I don't hurt anybody.

[Raymond St. Paul]

Enjoyed

Yeah I enjoyed this comic [minus the constant enlargement routine to see pages] REALLY favored the art too clearly effort was made for this issue collection. Hopefully we'll see more of this series. The story kept me interested to continue reading.

[Atef Attia]

Un gloubi boulga qui puise, dans le désordre, chez Blade Runner, Judge Dredd, Farenheit 451 à la sauce horreur graphique, la substance en moins. Le résultat est trop balisé et sans surprises pour tenir la route sur ces 5 volumes malgré quelques belles planches.

[Chad]

A cop in a world where fiction and religion has been outlawed gets involved in a case where multiple people have been ripped apart. It's pretty well thought out for a Steve Niles book which tend to be elevator pitches more than stories a lot of the time.

[Robert]

Overly dark art makes it atmospheric but a pain to read. 2/3 setup and only 1/3 payoff - flip the ratios for a better tale.

[Unai]

Steve Niles nos presenta en esta colección un futuro distópico en el que la imaginación esta penada por ley a cadena perpetua o incluso la muerte. Toda ficción es ilegal y considerada peligrosa, desde cualquier cuento infantil hasta las religiones, todo por el bien común de una sociedad mas civilizada. En esta oscuridad mental, Philip denunció sin saberlo a su padre por contarle una historia siendo niño y desde entonces y a perpetuidad su padre queda encarcelado y Philip es criado por el sistema.

Pasados los año Phlip Khrome se ha convertido en policía y aunque no persigue especialmente los crímenes de la imaginación, tampoco le hace ascos a detener a quien haga falta, ya sea por rezar, por contar una historia a un niño o por estar en posesión de un libro. La vida de Philip esta ordenada y hecha una mierda, pero todo empieza a trastocarse por una serie de asesinatos que tendrá que investigar “a la antigua”, ya que los bots que normalmente recogen pruebas, no consiguen detectar nada anómalo en los cuerpos brutalmente despedazados.

A través de paginas oscuras y de dibujo muy detallista nos vamos adentrando en un futuro aterrador que se enfrenta con horrores de pesadilla salidos de esas historias de ficción prohibidas. Es un cómic entretenido, de rápida lectura y con sus dosis de muerte, sangre y violencia, pero algo me ha fallado en su lectura. No me ha conseguido llegar mas allá de un cómic de consumo y olvido rápido. Quizás por ser demasiado refrito de muchas otras cosas, no lo se, pero no es un cómic que vaya a quedarse grabado en mi memoria.

[Azhar]

The time is the future and it is illegal to own or disseminate any mythical or supernatural stories including religion as this can 'corrupt the mind' - punishable by prison or worse, death. So basically a comic book form of a cross between Fahrenheit 451 and Minority Report. We follow a lead character, Khrome, who is a cop who comes across a book of monsters which then slowly changes his outlook on life.


The premise is a good one but the execution is flawed. It is very difficult to care about any of the lead characters; this was evidenced for me when Sonja dies and Khrome says something to the effect of "no longer missing out on chances of love" only to be met with the apathetic shrug of my shoulders. That said, the artwork is really good and really conveys the idea of a dark surrounding very well.

[Joseph]

Compared to the bloody slaughter committed within the pages of City of Dust, Steve Niles' crimes are like the cobble which lines the path to Hades. No particular stone stands out anymore than its surrounding brothers do. The conformity of these minor violations ensures the rapid arrival at a destination best avoided.

My full review will appear in Sleeping Hedgehog in April.

[Trevor Oakley]

Classic monsters meet dystopia. More fun Steve Niles horror comics!

[Daniel]

By the same guy who wrote "300", "Sin City" and "30 Days of Night", this is a great graphic novel... the artwork is awesome and the story is fresh.

[Valerie]

I very much liked and appreciated the story and its bold, unsparing graphics. I expected there to be more to the ending, but it was a deep, engrossing story.

[Rick]

I thought this was a pretty good story with good art. I read it over a year ago so I will have to go back and skim it to post a more detailed review.

[Benjamin]

amazing