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RAF lieutenant Naomi Givens is an intelligence officer stationed in Berlin in 1945, when events propel her into the adventure of a lifetime. Investigating reports of a downed aircraft seemingly far advanced from what she’s familiar with, she finds its pilot, who’s been captured by US forces. He tells her that he’s from the future, from an alternate timeline in which a nuclear war has left much of the USA a radioactive wasteland. An agent from his timeline has been sent back to destroy the Soviet...
review - https://youtu.be/UzFI9PPlrT4
This is my most disappointing read in quite some time. I usually love Gibson, but maybe he needs some time to figure out how to work in comics. Everything happens so fast, the art is regularly hard to follow, and some of the core plot elements just don't make any sense. For example: the villain comes from a post-apocalyptic reality looking for a new world to escape to. But his plan is to change our history so it matches his. Which would also ruin our world, right?
Parallel universesTime TravelA critical moment in 20th century historyThe USA at a crossroadsTwo competing teams of time travelersA WWII venueMore than adequate artwork The master storyteller GibsonNot a bad formula for a graphic novel.So why doesn’t it work for me?When I figure it all out I will let you know.Big disappointment is what I am trying to process right now.
This had potential. It is not exactly terrible, but I get the feeling this could have been MUCH better.Taking place in 2016, the world is destroyed. The leaders who caused this mess decide to use a machine known as the Splitter. This creates an alternate universe where they can go back and manipulate history. The premise is good, the execution-not so much.The "heroes" go back in time to hunt down the leaders. Turns out they choose to go back to 1945, right before the US drops the bomb on Hiroshi...
This was really frustrating, because I wanted very badly to like it more than I did. The art style is just not very understandable, at least as someone who’s only read a couple dozen comics in their life. Specifically, the characters faces are all very indistinct, and their expressions are completely unrecognisable. This wouldn’t have been as much of a problem if they weren’t all also wearing identical military uniforms. The action sequences, of which there are many, were incredibly hard for me
2.5 stars. All the online reviews of this book that I could find OUTSIDE of Goodreads are incredibly positive. They are also dishonest, because this is barely a 3 stars book, as hundreds of Goodreads reviews can confirm. The concept is somewhat intriguing but the execution is seriously lacking: every action scene is an unintelligible mess, many characters have often the same face, and overall it’s really difficult to follow the story and to understand what is going on. Many other reviewers had t...
A good story that would have been better with a longer length to let world building and characters breath a bit. The main art by Guice was a bit of a letdown. It was well rendered in detail but had some confusing layout choices and broken-looking action sequences. I had to go over fights more than once to work out what happened. The comic covers by Tula Lotay were gorgeous as were the graphic pages by James Biggie, any of which would make great no-context wall art.
Time travel narratives grounded in these ideas of quantum mechanics and string theory are often best served by leaving timelines as all inherently separate so as to not deal with the convoluted Grandfather issues. That, or be fun. This is sadly neither. This follows what is mostly a Terminator-style plot but without the fear of AI, keeping the technology slightly more grounded amid the idea of replacing a historical figure in the past. The ideas happen fast and furiously and rarely make sense mo...
Interesting sci-fi thriller until issue 4&5 where the action becomes messy and the art takes a stumble.Looking at the character sketches included in the back pages it's clear some content was cut, and it shows.Also the last page is just terrible.It's enjoyable despite it's flaws, however I can't say that I wasn't disappointed.
Archangel, by William Gibson, is a time travelling science fiction graphic novel. It follows a team of resistance fighters who travel back to 1945 to try and stop the Dictator of the United States from bombing Archangel, USSR in 1945, and to redirect the bomb to Nagasaki as intended. This book mixes science fiction with WWII espionage to create an interesting mix of genres. The illustrations are good, while the plot and story, while fair, are by no means stellar. I found the book to be fun, if c...
Missing somethingThis book is like watching a highly acclaimed tv series that has four seasons under its belt and you start it a few episodes into season two. It's missing a whole storyline somewhere. Who are these people? What's going on? Where are we going when it's over? These are the questions you'll ask yourself while reading and when you're done.
William Gibson of Neuromancer fame collaborates with Michael St. John Smith on this sci-fi WWII alternate dimension spy thriller. World is destroyed by nuclear bombs so courtesty to science there is another Earth in which agents can travel. Sinister government wants to take over another planet. Wish that story was longer with few more twists, turns and character development though this was fast read.
1.5 stars rounded up. As a William Gibson short story, this would have succeeded. But Gibson clearly does not understand how to write for comics. Most of the layouts and scenes were poorly arranged. I was often confused about the characters and their actions in each scene. Though, I could easily follow the overall plot and the illustration was serviceable. In fiction, Gibson is coolly obtuse when dealing with gritty scifi technology. His enigmatic cyberpunk style becomes a confusing mess when it...
I'm torn on this one. Leave it to William Gibson to hit me in the gut with a graphic novel. On one side, the story really makes you think about our choices as a society and the risks of the nuclear age. On the other hand, the story itself felt a little lacking. Maybe it was the format. It's a good read, regardless of my indecisiveness.
Original story, but not very well told, thin in fact and compounded by the varying quality of the art, at times messy and poorly laid out and hard to follow sequentially. It is fun, more than anything else, but not a great tale in the scheme of things. It's a bit disappointing, but as a side-project for first-time graphic novelist Gibson, not a big deal. The man's an excellent writer when he takes his time, a prose stylist, a cool culture visionary, and an insightful thinker. Too bad this medium...
Another massive disappointment in the novelists writing comics category. Really an adapted screenplay (and we’ve seen plenty of evidence that screenplays are not Gibson’s strong suit) this is a storytelling mess. The story feels massively incomplete, paring everything down to a single through line with little to no context or world building. Made worse by the incredibly mediocre art throughout (the advertised artist seems to have just done character designs and maybe layouts for the first chapte...
An Audible performance to compare all others....This espionage thriller is not my usual fair. It honestly gave me anxiety and stressed me out the further and further the characters proceeded. the narrators and sound effects are the best production I’ve heard. Well except for the harp strings in the background music. Otherwise definitely a 5 by 5 compilation of voices and sounds!
Gibson Is A Freakin' Genius!He wrote one of my all-time fave SF novels, NEUROMANCER, and his status as progenitor of the cyberpunk style has never been seriously challenged. This graphic novel is a strong example of his writing prowess and the artists are first-rate; a fast, thrilling read.
Fairly entertaining