The Tower Chronicles: GeistHawk Vol. 1 Review

The concept of The Tower Chronicles is not exactly a new one. We have a mysterious loner who hunts down the things that go bump in the night, a doubtful FBI agent who needs his help solving a case and plenty of lines like, “I work alone” and "I can smell her fear." Without a doubt, The Tower Chronicles feels dated, like a story we've all heard before or a movie that never made the jump from VHS to DVD. The main character even looks like a mashup of the classic action heroes of the 80s and 90s, complete with turtle neck, Members Only jacket and slicked back hair. Fortunately, despite all that, it's still a fun read that's filled with some ridiculous action and some truly awesome looking monsters.

The story, created by Thomas Tull and Matt Wagner, revolves around John Tower, a man (at least we assume he is a man) who specializes in hunting down the kinds of things that the law can't. If, for instance, you are fairly certain that your family was murdered by a pack of werewolves, then you'd ring up John Tower and he'd make sure that said werewolves didn't come around anymore. Like I said, it's not exactly a new story, but Wagner's script manages to keep it interesting. In the book's 70 pages we get to see a man-made ghost, an owl demon thingy, and some really creepy vampires. It's cool stuff, as long as your idea of cool is seeing a vampire ripping the head off of a small child in extreme, gory detail (the kid is also a vampire, so I guess it's okay).

The dialogue, like the story itself, often feels stiff. None of the characters standout or doing anything particularly unexpected or interesting. You'll no doubt find yourself wishing you could get to the next monster and the next fight scene, because that's where this book excels. When the word balloons drop off the page and the plasma knife comes out, The Tower Chronicles gets good. Real good. It's just all those bits in between that'll have you wondering if this was originally a spec script for a Lorenzo Lomas movie from the early 90s.

Like the writing, the Simon Bisley's art is hit and miss. His detailed, exaggerated style looks amazing during the aforementioned fight scenes. The vampire melee towards the book's end is worth the cover price alone. It's sinister stuff, in all the best ways. The problems start when characters have to interact without a ghost or a monster attacking them. That's when things look awkward and lack a clear flow. It's a shame, because I'm sure there is more to Tower than his typical, brooding, tough-guy demeanor; it's just hard to care when he looks like such a bizarre dork. I just want to see more vampires and less FBI agents and mullet-topped bounty hunters.

The Tower Chronicles is scheduled to be a big story, covering several of these 70 page, over-sized books. Hopefully, as the story unfolds, the dated, stale feeling that haunts this book will be exorcised. This could be a great series, especially if we get more vampires ripping the heads off of people -- because that stuff is awesome.

Benjamin is a Ninjak enthusiast. He owns many variant covers and his office smells of honor. Follow Benjamin on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com