New Indie Review!!--Curiosities from Another World

I don't know how many times I can start one of these posts with my usual "here's why I love indie comics" love letters.  But receiving an email from this book's creator asking for a review, made me feel something different.  I felt a sense of kinship with the author, very simply, from the "why he wrote this story" explanation at the bottom of his email.  He says "Having recently become a father, I wrote these stories intending to capture some important life lessons for my daughter when she's older."

That is one of the greatest reasons why you could write.  There's a hot discussion in the culinary world about whether or not you cook for yourself or the guest...and which answer is the best.  I've seen shallow versions of the same discussion in the comic community, but I think Ryan's motive behind creating this book and sharing with the world is a true combination of both.  I remember feeling the same way Ryan did when my first child was born after many difficulties to have a child, and then how I felt with my daughter born 10 weeks early, and then how I felt when my wife told me she was pregnant with our 3rd child (we didn't think we could have kids naturally...)

I'm prepared to die on a hill for my kids.  Each day there is a hard look in the mirror at all of my actions, where I find myself asking if I did everything not only to better their lives each day, but if I did something that would raise them to be an amazing human being in the future.

Aside from my "crying on the couch with Oprah" moment, I am really excited to talk about today's First Creation from Ryan Bis (and his team):

Curiosities from Another World #1 (Curious Perspective Comics)
By: Ryan Bis, Crizam, Nathan Olson, Cristian Sauret, Nazareno Acuña, Sabrina Deigert, Renan Balmonte, Elijah Isaiah Johnson, Emma Southey-Ray, Jaka Prawira, Harold Palad, Heidi Black, Max Moda, Matias Zanetti and Mauro Mantella, Kathleen Brown, and Iwan Yoko Triyono

Curiosities #1 is six introductory character arcs, which all get woven together in an intriguing fashion when all is said and done.  All six of the stories are written by Ryan, with a different combination of artists on each one (thus the lengthy byline).  What happens in this book really works for the story it wants to tell.

Curiosities is set in the Hive, a large city of 12 districts that all have their own unique backstories.  This world almost feels cyberpunk-esque in terms of some of the high levels of technology on display (but lacks the body modification present in most cyberpunk takes). Each story focuses on one of six characters who will have some larger role to play in the future. 

You have a young man who can use crystals to put on magical displays of brilliant light (and has a sweet pet!). A woman recently terminated from her job debating whether or not she wants to see simulations of her life (imagine this is your life + total recall). A young artistic woman who is sick of her job. A young telepath who's fled a prison (but she didn't know it) and found more of her kind. A man who is attempting to pull all of the strings, and struggling to understand why everything doesn't go according to his plans, and a woman who is an inspector of sorts who isn't afraid to shoot whilst asking some questions.

How do these 6 divergent stories work together?  Ohboi that epilogue though!!!!! I'm really excited to see how it all shakes out!

This book does a lot of awesome things, THE ART is one of them!!!!!!!!!

While each artist sings in their own style, it feels like it was all drawn and colored by 1-2 people.  So the fact that a 68 page book with so many different hands on it felt so tight is amazing. What gets me are the massive cityscapes, I'm drawn in.  You can feel each of the character's plights, but you can also feel the storm brewing which will threaten the stability of the Hive!

I think this story has the ability to build into a 20-30 issue or more story to look at how each of these characters work alone or together to transform their fate.  I'm impressed with what I've seen, and I think you should definitely throw $3 bucks at this book and see if it sticks for you!  As soon as I push post, I'm going to spend the money on an on-demand print copy because I think it's that great!

I've reached out to Ryan about an interview, because I want to see where his ideas came from, and how he teamed up with the rest of the creative engines of this beautiful book!

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