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jameshaus's review against another edition
4.0
Alan Davis is one of the many authors I read and appreciated when I was "in the game" and collecting, but had never taken particular notice of. Now that I've read a few more of his collected works, I've grown to appreciate him and his past work a lot more. "Oh, no wonder I liked this story, it was Alan Davis," is an increasingly common thought. He's an old-school british fantasy/SF style writer, along the lines of Michael Moorecock, and I love him for it. I'm continually impressed with how imaginative his stories and characters are, and how much fresh air he brings the relatively stagnant Marvel universe, especially in the 90s. I loved his work on Excalibur, although I still haven't read all of it. So, you can imagine my excitement when I received ClanDestine for my birthday this year, having never heard of the title.
ClanDestine was amazingly fun. It essentially chronicles the tale of a family of long-lived, super-powered individuals, just as they start to be discovered and murdered, one by one. What I liked best about this, is it really isn't a super-hero team book in the traditional sense. Yes, the teenage twins, having just discovered there powers and think they are mutants (they are not. They are MUCH more interesting than mere mutation), and want to be super heroes. But the rest of them just want to live their lengthy lives in relative privacy, and seem to resent being drawn into the loud, violent world of super heroics. And ye gods, when they have a family argument, it gets messy. I also really enjoy how their powers really do seem to come with a trade-off. Most super hero stories try to make having powers seem complicated, but it usually comes off as, "It's such a burden to have a physique this chiseled, stunning good looks and the ability to fly !" With this family, the downside seems real. Dom's senses are so sensitive he can barely exist in the real world without being constantly overloaded by stimuli. And my favorite, Walter, hulks out into a big, blue genie with flame for hair when he gets too angry. Which is great in an emergency requiring lots of violence, but less so in the days after as his body takes its sweet time returning to normal size so he can pass as human.
Anyway, I don't want to spoil much more, so I'll leave it at that. I'm bummed that this title never really took off, but I take a large amount of comfort in knowing I have yet to work my way entirely through his back catalog. If it's all like this, then I greatly look forward to it.
ClanDestine was amazingly fun. It essentially chronicles the tale of a family of long-lived, super-powered individuals, just as they start to be discovered and murdered, one by one. What I liked best about this, is it really isn't a super-hero team book in the traditional sense. Yes, the teenage twins, having just discovered there powers and think they are mutants (they are not. They are MUCH more interesting than mere mutation), and want to be super heroes. But the rest of them just want to live their lengthy lives in relative privacy, and seem to resent being drawn into the loud, violent world of super heroics. And ye gods, when they have a family argument, it gets messy. I also really enjoy how their powers really do seem to come with a trade-off. Most super hero stories try to make having powers seem complicated, but it usually comes off as, "It's such a burden to have a physique this chiseled, stunning good looks and the ability to fly !" With this family, the downside seems real. Dom's senses are so sensitive he can barely exist in the real world without being constantly overloaded by stimuli. And my favorite, Walter, hulks out into a big, blue genie with flame for hair when he gets too angry. Which is great in an emergency requiring lots of violence, but less so in the days after as his body takes its sweet time returning to normal size so he can pass as human.
Anyway, I don't want to spoil much more, so I'll leave it at that. I'm bummed that this title never really took off, but I take a large amount of comfort in knowing I have yet to work my way entirely through his back catalog. If it's all like this, then I greatly look forward to it.
kegriese1's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
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