Monday 30 September 2013

Melksham Comic-Con Aftermath: 7 Strings, the Musical Star Wars

Now, before I talk about the book itself, I'm gonna point out two things. 1. Because I picked up so much reading material at Melksham Comic-Con last month, I've decided that anything I write about regarding said books is going to have a nice little "Melksham Comic-Con Aftermath" banner in the title (just like the big publisher comics). 2. Yes, what I wrote is true and 7 Strings is the musical Star Wars, but we'll get to that.

7 String Volume 1 by Nich Angell
So, yeah, anyway I've finally been able to get back to all the books I picked up (which is a shame, because they all look really promising) and I figured that I would start with the book I had failed to pick up at the Bristol Comic-Con; Nich Angell's 7 String. Now the premise of this book is a little different what what I'm normally into (but then I think I said the same about Afterlife Inc.), set in a very musically inspired world, Zachary Briarpatch has come across a most unique of weapons; a seven string sword (as all the weapons here have strings and musical themes) and sets out to avenger the death of his mother at the hands of a megalomaniacal villain who is out to conquer everything. What follows is Zach's journey towards finding his enemy, while the world around him gears up to war and other characters are introduced from these various sides of the coming conflict.

Now, earlier when I said that 7 String is the musical Star Wars, I meant it. Nich Angell has written a story that, while having no resemblance at all, felt like that great trilogy (the prequels don't count) the further I read, with a great example being the introduction of the character Tuner, who immediately made me think 'Yoda!!!' Of course, this doesn't discount from the title being incredibly engaging and showing off a world that is incredibly in depth with a story that shows a lot of heart, told with visuals that are just gorgeous somewhere between manga, steampunk and the more mainstream. In fact there is one panel that depicts one of the many cities in this world where I looked and thought 'That looks like the Fifth Element!!'

This book is a beautiful little title which, after reading a lot of mainstream series that have caused me to have doubts, it's nice that this is so epic and sweet that it renews my faith in the medium. In fact, if this book has any flaws it is that it doesn't seem to spend too much time with the main characters, focusing on what makes them tick. However, given this is only the beginning of this epic story, you just know that more about them will be revealed in the future installments.

So, in short, what am I saying? Is this 7 String as good as Star Wars? No, to me it's better and I'm seriously looking forward to where the story goes in chapter 2.

No comments:

Post a Comment