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bloodravenlib's review against another edition
4.0
You can read my full review of this on my blog, The Itinerant Librarian. Simply click (or copy/paste to your favorite browser) the link below to check it out.
Review link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/05/booknote-zero-volume-1-emergency.html
Review link: http://itinerantlibrarian.blogspot.com/2014/05/booknote-zero-volume-1-emergency.html
blackestclovers's review against another edition
4.0
Normally I hate artist changes, especially like this, but t seems to work with whatever crazy story Ales Kot has cooked up. I'll have to check out Vol 2...
sherpawhale's review against another edition
4.0
I've been waiting for this for a while, ever since I absolutely fell in love with Kot's Suicide Squad back in May. I trade-wait Image, though, because they are a company that's actually punctual about releasing trades. And I wasn't crazy about the rotating artists.
However, the art won me over. I saw some other people complaining that it seemed unfinished, somewhat sketchy, and I suppose it is. I thought it really added to the overall tone, though. I also appreciate Kot's commitment to sharing the credit with all of his co-creators. One thing I wasn't fond of, though, is how empty the streets of Rio were. Lol. Gave me a good laugh.
Anyway, this story about Edward Zero feels like it should be cliché spy stuff, but it always seems to rise above and subvert the tropes. Secret terrorist kickstarter party? Oh, there's a teleporter. Female boss? Isn't demonized in some faux-male pride sort of thing, very empathetic with her decision-making ability.
Can't wait to see where it goes next, with the giant nod to speculative fiction on the finale page.
However, the art won me over. I saw some other people complaining that it seemed unfinished, somewhat sketchy, and I suppose it is. I thought it really added to the overall tone, though. I also appreciate Kot's commitment to sharing the credit with all of his co-creators. One thing I wasn't fond of, though, is how empty the streets of Rio were. Lol. Gave me a good laugh.
Anyway, this story about Edward Zero feels like it should be cliché spy stuff, but it always seems to rise above and subvert the tropes. Secret terrorist kickstarter party? Oh, there's a teleporter. Female boss? Isn't demonized in some faux-male pride sort of thing, very empathetic with her decision-making ability.
Can't wait to see where it goes next, with the giant nod to speculative fiction on the finale page.
joelipsett's review against another edition
3.0
I quite like the art, but the storytelling leaves a little something to be desired. It's not bad per se, but it's nothing original either (as the quotes on the back would have you believe). If anything it's a fairly standard introduction to the characters and the world, which in this case is fairly generic spy stuff with a slight sci-fi twist. There's not quite enough here to tempt a second visit, aside from the last act twist which is mildly intriguing.
globosdepensamiento's review against another edition
5.0
2018: A soldier, who belongs neither to the Palestinian or the Israeli side, infiltrates the Gaza Strip with a classified mission.
2000: A child is educated and molded to kill under the motto "Existence is a perpetual state of war.”
2019, January: A James Bond lookalike is having a drink in Shanghai at an event organized by and for high caliber terrorists.
2019, October: In Rio de Janeiro a young man announces to an older one: “I’m here to kill you.”
2038: An old man sitting in front of a cliff in Dover contemplates the horizon as a child points a gun to his head.
All of them are Edward Zero, special operative of The Agency.
Welcome to ZERO, by Ales Kot.
____________________________________
Two years ago no one knew who Ales Kot was. A year ago Ales Kot did not know who Ales Kot was. Today we are quite a few who know who Ales Kot is. Within a year (maybe less), the whole comic fandom will know who is Ales Kot.
Of Czech origin, but settled in the United States, in July 2012 Kot published his first “big” comic project, Wild Children (Image Comics), a psychotropic fable about the creative, emotional, sexual and destructive explosion that involves reaching adolescence, breaking the child’s world but still refusing to accept the rules and responsibilities of the adult world. Critics soon presented Kot as the second coming of Grant Morrison, as they tend to do every time drugs and relevance pretenses are mixed when presenting a story in comic form.
Later that year, Kot’s career kept gaining momentum with the publication of his second Image book, Change, and then the assignments started coming. DC chose this “raw talent” to take Suicide Squad over from Adam Glass and to write a short story in his Halloween tale collection, The Witching Hour. Quite a discovery this Kot guy… who resigned or was fired after 4 numbers on the Suicide Squad over “creative differences” that were never clarified.
After leaving DC, Kot announced the upcoming release of his new Image series, Zero, while Marvel recruited him to finish Nick Spencer's Secret Avengers run and then relaunch it, with the guy flying solo, and adding a yet-to-be-released Iron Patriot miniseries to the mix. All this happened in 2013 … what will not happen in 2014?
Moving on, Zero is the creature of Ales Kot, collecting a handful of its creator’s concerns and interests. Despite his youth, Kot is very familiar with comics and what they can offer. That is why, in order to give life to Edward Zero, he decided to conduct an experiment that would allow him to fully exploit the characteristics of the medium: each issue would be drawn by a different artist, always one suitable to the tone of the story and always appealing to the strengths of each artist.
The glue that visually holds everything together is, without a doubt, Jordie Bellaire's expertise as a colorist, but not negligible is the work of each of the artists: Michael Walsh's dingy stroke is most appropriate to narrate a short war story set in the Middle East; the stylized cartoon versatility of Tradd Moore fills Edward's childhood with the charm of his first (and only) love (?), Mina Thorpe, and the rawness of the consequences of his first mission; Mateus Santolouco exploits his expressiveness in a tragic spy techno-thriller; with Morgan Jeske we return to a dirtiness in the outlines, this time adrenalinic, with raw fights splashing us and persecutions infecting us with their power; and finally, Will Tempest returns us to the calm before the storm with a more “intimate” issue, crisscrossing conversations with silent scenes that speak louder than the dialogues.
Changes in tone, leaps in time and space, questionable temporal linearity… Each issue of this series is a piece of the broken puzzle conforming the story and character of Edward Zero, a James Bond of sorts that was bred to be the perfect killing machine to service an organization that operates above laws, politics and borders. As we learn more about Edward's origins, the methods and interests of The Agency are simultaneously revealed in small pills. The enigmatic and interesting extras, included at the end of every issue, also contribute to broaden this universe.
Influenced by the back material that >Alan Moore created for the story of Watchmen (from ornithology guides to excerpts of a certain autobiography), Ales Kot shares mission dossiers, classified documents and excerpts from interviews concerning the freshly told story, with great relevance for the disclosure of certain plot details. A treat that puts the finishing touch to a story that book designer Tom Muller, in collaboration with the cover artists and Kot himself, develops to enhance the visual narrative of the book itself, not inherent in its interior, but in all its form.
In short, Zero represents the past, with the frame of a classic spy story, powers in the shadows and larger than life hidden plans; the present, with issues and concerns that, although set in a near future, they are felt very near to us; and the future, the first great masterpiece of Ales Kot, when completed, I promise
[Originally published in Revering Comic Books]
shinymensch's review against another edition
5.0
Amazing writing. Really good artist's. Read this now!
ashawp's review against another edition
2.0
This is a dark conspiracy spy story. I was not a fan. There was a lot of graphic violence that felt meaningless (probably intentional). The story of the spy you are following is dark and sad. The one point of interest for me was the scifi technology that was a target of several missions. It is not enough to keep me reading the next volume though.
librarimans's review against another edition
5.0
I read this monthly and in the span of 5 issues it has quickly become one of my favorite books. Kot has masterfully crafted a world of espionage and secret government operations where everything is not exactly as it seems. The book employs a unique narrative structure where each issue is a standalone story about the titular character, Edward Zero, yet is part of an overarching narrative about his life and career as a veritable super spy for the Agency. As each issue is essentially a one shot, they all have different artists, this lets each issue breath and works with the writing to create and reinforce the tone of the book. I can not recommend this series highly enough.
kyleofbooks's review against another edition
3.0
Actual rating: 3.5
This was an interesting one. I only vaguely knew going in what to expect with 'Zero' (the barest of bare details: a spy story).
It became so much more than that, though. I won't go into it too much, because to be honest, I am still quite confused. The story jumps around from different points in time during Edward Zero's life. He, and other children, were molded into spies for the 'The Agency,' a mysterious government faction. What side are they fighting for? Are they agents of good or evil? We don't know... and this is where I was thrown off; there really is no focused story. Half the time I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, who the characters were, and attempting to decipher what they were talking about. Maybe this is due to the fact that the writer, Ales Kot, is trying to draw the readers into Edward's world by throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us? It felt choppy & convoluted all at once.
There are multiple chapters, and each is illustrated by a different artist. It's an interesting concept, and the art is very well done, but it felt at times like I was trying to make sense of one story told by different people. And then, tossed into the last few pages, a surprise science fiction element I was not expecting.
I still don't know what's happening in the story, or where it will go moving forward from Vol. 1, but I do know that I'm intrigued.
This was an interesting one. I only vaguely knew going in what to expect with 'Zero' (the barest of bare details: a spy story).
It became so much more than that, though. I won't go into it too much, because to be honest, I am still quite confused. The story jumps around from different points in time during Edward Zero's life. He, and other children, were molded into spies for the 'The Agency,' a mysterious government faction. What side are they fighting for? Are they agents of good or evil? We don't know... and this is where I was thrown off; there really is no focused story. Half the time I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, who the characters were, and attempting to decipher what they were talking about. Maybe this is due to the fact that the writer, Ales Kot, is trying to draw the readers into Edward's world by throwing everything but the kitchen sink at us? It felt choppy & convoluted all at once.
There are multiple chapters, and each is illustrated by a different artist. It's an interesting concept, and the art is very well done, but it felt at times like I was trying to make sense of one story told by different people. And then, tossed into the last few pages, a surprise science fiction element I was not expecting.
I still don't know what's happening in the story, or where it will go moving forward from Vol. 1, but I do know that I'm intrigued.