In this second volume from Titan Books which gathers together Jack Katz's epic The First Kingdom, the story settles down a little bit. A lot of ground was covered in the first volume, beginning with the utter destruction of modern civilization and the arrival of a gang of aliens sent to save us from ourselves. We followed the adventures of Darkenmoor and his love Nedlaya as they tried to survive an incredibly savage landscape filled with deadly creatures and peoples. We watched as Darkenmoor was able to raise up the city of Moorengan, the "First Kingdom". We also saw the birth and of Tundran, Darkenmoor's son and heir. We also followed the antics of the "transgods" who we learn a lot about in this second volume.
Tundran is in exile with some priests as the story opens and we follow him as he ambles across the deadly landscape of this post-apocalyptic territory and even finds love in a woman named Fara who is in fact a mortalized god named Selowan, who had been in love with Darkenmoor. The two are the star-crossed lovers who will become the center of this saga as it moves forward. Vargran, who overthrew Darkenmoor seeks out his heir and sends fleets to find him and slay him.
But now Katz gives us a parallel story. Each installment will feature a flashback from the perspective of the transgod Manog who is seems was a human alien come to the planet Earth along with his comrades to seek to stop the coming conflagration aboard the spaceship "Galaxy Hunter". But they arrive too late. Manog learns that the giant androids who served the aliens have plans of their own to perpetuate themselves and essentially elevate their kind above their current state. He helps them as he shares in a taste of immortality. This story will unfold from different perspectives as the installments continue.
Katz seems to clearly to want to tell two kinds of stories, a barbarian tale of savage survival and a expansive science fiction saga and somehow he manages to bond these two things into a single narrative, albeit a often bewildering one. (I think I will need to immediately start reading this series again after I've eventually finished it, just to make sure I understand it all.)
One of my favorite characters in this section was "The Eyetelect", an immense artificial intelligence who soberly seeks to control the flow of events. This being is able to affect things in an even more subtle way than the androids and one gets the sense that his goals are the ones we should focus on.
Katz's artwork has gotten ever bolder and perhaps even more confident, and he effectively is telling most of the story now in sprawling single page images. The words are dense and often confusing, and at times so are the images, but one gets the feel of a flow which drags the reader along despite confusions which crop up. Many of the characters look a lot alike and that really mangles my mind as I read.
This saga is fascinating and after two volumes (twelve issue of Katz's original series) has gotten a depth which is stunning. The concepts are huge even if at times the characterizations seem a tad trite. As in many myths, the characters are less important than what the role they fulfill. Eager for the next one. More on that next week.
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I may yet get the hardcovers, but I wonder if they include the many endorsement columns contained in the original comics by journalists, authors and elite cartoonists such as Eisner, Caniff and Kirby done as this thing was being assembled. From interviews Katz has given over the course of the First Kingdom in various zines, up until the present, you can see the one commercial skill he had was a great pitch. Even if you couldn't exactly tell what the hell was going on from the early issues, Katz had a way of explaining it, along with the grandiose art, that obviously impressed his peers from the start. In many ways, it was simply the ambition of the First Kingdom that was what set it apart from all other comics. It's impressive that he was able to deliver so much of what was promised.
ReplyDeleteI've not read all of these yet, but the editorial by Steranko is included in volume three. I find the books wildly confusing but still compelling reads.
DeleteThose are great covers. I have never read ( or seen) an issue of First Kingdom but I used to see it advertised on some IS magazine's and comics and always wondered what it was aoit.
ReplyDeleteLooks like I missed a pretty good but complex book .
The covers were certainly different for the late 70's and early 80's before the direct market allowed for a wider variety of material to find the stands. We can be forgiven because it was just hard to find in the boondocks.
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