Ascend

by Keith Arem, Christopher Shy

Hardcover Following its sold-out release in 2005, the graphic novel Ascend returns as an all-new Special Edition. The 200-page hardback features 70 additional pages and a completely rewritten story and new dialog, taking the reader deeper into post-apocalyptic Purgatory Wars, where a battle over "harvested" human souls has destroyed heaven and hell. An extended opening prologue and alternate ending expand the original story further, revealing Sebastian's unwilling draft into the war. All art panels have been re-mastered, with additional new border and text effects and an increased book size to 9"x13". Included are original story and research notes, along with a full leather cover, silver foiled embossing, and slip case. HC w/slipcase ? FC ? 9: x 13.125" ? 200 Pages ISBN 1-60010-138-0

Genres: Fantasy, Comics, Graphic Novels, Post Apocalyptic

200 pages, Hardcover

First published February 9, 2005

Reviews

[Andrew Pixton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork. And that's about all I can say about this one. Even then, it's hard to tell the characters apart when they look the same. The exposition is either non-existent, or so obscure you don't know what's going on until half-way in when you're able to piece it all together. Granted, I went in knowing nothing in advance, but I don't think I should have to. It's a cool mythos, extremely gothic and industrial. Just, I don't know. The dialogue was pretentious too. The cool thing about graphic novels is they're short and you don't have to put up with them that long when they become a chore.

[Peacegal · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of those "WTF?" reads. The artwork has that grimy, digital look of a zillion nu-metal albums of the early 2000s. The story made very little sense. Not for me, thanks.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was intrigued when I saw the slick movie trailer for Ascend. The artwork (five stars) by Christopher Shy was just phenomenal. I wasn't disappointed at all when I picked up the special edition of the graphic novel, which is produced in an extra large format.

What was disappointing, however, was Keith Arem's story, which felt more like an outline for a story rather than a full blown. In the book's prologue, Arem mentions that the story came to him in a vivid dream that his wife forced him to write down. Well, he should have slept on it a bit more. The characters are not really developed and the skeletal plot a bit frail and jumpy. What is so disappointing is that the premise--a battle between angels and demons for human souls--is so promising, yet Arem fails to develop any demon characters. Pick this book up just to check out the artwork, but don't look for any mind-blowing plot.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of amazing artwork and one of the wildest stories dealing with angels I've read yet, this was worth taking my time to get through, as 3 angels were talking about things known only to them (such as the strange slang you had to read into, not explained to your face), the mind-shattering revelations at the end, the seemingly normal then weirdly complex relationship of the 3 angels, the involvement of Rebekah, eye-grabbing action scenes, and more.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the book, I watched a motion comic for this and was blown away. When you see how the creators intended this to be watched and read, the story makes much more sense. The scope of Ascend is so large, that much of the dialog and character development seems to be intentionally minimal and cinematic, instead of spoonfeeding the audience. The world, artwork, story and charcters are epic.

[Icepick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork was dark, but compelling. The difficulty is that the story is very thin, even for a graphic novel. The text-less frames that were meant to convey the story visually were often difficult to discern.

[Steven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rwo stars because the artwork was interesting, and often miasmic, if often incomprehensible. The story, on the other hand, is a bog-standard of warring angels and monstrous ambition, thin stuff indeed.

[Christopher Corbett · Rating 2 out of 5]

The artwork is the only thing good about the novel, if it wasn't for the artwork I wouldn't made it through.

[James Hoyle · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's shit. Bad plot, next to nothing is explained, and the art is atrocious.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 Stars for the artwork. The so-called story was almost non-existent and what was there was boring.