Comic Review: Reborn TP (Image)

Reborn, Book one, from Image collects the first six issues of the title. And what a wild journey it is!

Reborn is created by Mark Millar and Greg Capullo. It’s written by Millar, illustrated by Capullo. It’s inked by Jonathan Glapion, and coloured by Fco Plascencia.

The basic scene: when you die, you go to one place if you’re good, and another place if you’re bad. Simple enough. But crossing over from life to afterlife can bring complications, especially when you see familiar people and pets on the other side when you get there. And some of them are good, and others have been ‘bad’. That’s oversimplifying a fine creation like Reborn, but it sets the scene for the beginning reader, like me.

The story is simply marvelous it is like reading a saga like Game of Thrones or Lord of the Rings, albeit abbreviated. There aren’t 7 kingdoms all squabbling over each other in Reborn, but there is the sense of a medieval exploration of magic and the unknown. There are weird and wonderful characters who all have their own goals, however deviant they may be.

And at its heart, this is a warm story of Bonnie Black, who dies, and looks for her murdered husband in the afterlife. But like I said, it’s complicated, and a compelling tale is made from the journey.

The illustrations and colouring are simply stunning, reminding one of Frank Frazetta or Frank Brunner, Jeffrey Catherine Jones, and other master artists.

Do yourself a favour and check out this trade, it’s really really good reading. And don’t miss the character sketches at the end of the book!

Image, Reborn Book One, $16.99 for 174 pages of content. Rated Mature readers.