Jesus Comics

Alias Comics started out as a promising new publisher sporting some decent new, up-and-coming talent. I didn't give any of their initial offerings a look because I felt like the publisher was going to be yet another small publisher trying to do too much too fast and would be closing up show within a year. Surprisingly, they're still here, albeit in a slightly different form.

Not being able to completely hold their weight in the comic book direct market, Alias decided to brand themselves as a Christian comic book publisher. Fine. Whatever. They knew they were a niche publisher so they just went the extra mile and defined their niche. Right before they made that definition, I decided I'd give the publisher a chance. ArmorQuest was a cheaply priced (only $3.50) graphic novel that sounded cliched, but interesting nonetheless. I dig fantasy, so I thought I'd give it a chance.

Oh man, do I ever wish I had my $3.50 back. I've read plenty of bad graphic novels, but this one takes the cake. Not only was this a total rip off of the general fantasy story of "boy inherits something from a warrior, doesn't realize his power, discovers it, has trouble coming to grips with his power, is mentored by an aging warrior, then overcomes adversity to slay his ultimate foe," but it is done with a blatantly horrible Christian overtone.

I couldn't even keep track of how many lines of dialog were phrased to give off a Christian vibe. "I fight for the Lord... of my country," and "By the power that has been given to me by the Lord... of my country... I will slay the evil beast," are only a few paraphrases of what you'll read over and over again.

The art is also pretty basic, no frills, black and white line work. There is really no inspiration or energy in the art. Although, I suppose a very simple and boring style of art works perfectly for such a simplistic and also-ran story.

If this is any indication of what Alias has to offer right now, this is a publisher I can easily ignore every time I'm browsing comics. I would hope that some other titles might be good, but considering that they're a Christian only publisher, there probably isn't a lot of room for creativity.