Writer: Paul Jenkins
Artist: Humberto Ramos
Publisher: Dark Horse
Revelations is a 6 part series that recently finished and with the trade out in the next few months Fractal Matter sat down to review the book for you.
The story starts with the death of Cardinal William Richileu. The Cardinal is seen falling to his death across a 12 foot gap onto spikes below. Was he pushed, did he commit suicide or did he fall? That’s just the start of the questions, and to give you an idea this is just some more that issue 1 hits you with -
Why have the Italian Police been so slack in investigating? What was the Cardinal carrying as he hit the air outside the window? How did the next in line for the Papacy really die? Who was the man trying to stab the Cardinal with a dagger even as he lay impaled on the spikes?
We’ll come back to the story, but at first glance the artwork on Revelations by Humberto (Crimson, Wolverine, Impulse) Ramos is perhaps not the best suited for the piece due to its obvious exaggeration. However it does the storytelling brilliantly. The editor, Scott Allie, writing in the letter column had this to say on the subject: “I love to see a story like this drawn in a style you wouldn’t expect, for the very reason that it does mess with expectations.” For the most part Revelations is a very grounded book, even though it is set in and around the Vatican, and Ramos is excellent at the details, with the colouring really helping to sell the art. Even so there are problems with Ramos’ style, for example without dialogue we’d never have guessed the lead character is anywhere near the age he is supposed to be.
Those familiar with Warren Ellis’ archetypal swearing Englishman who smokes will recognise our lead character. I suppose his stereotypical nature is a shorthand so we do not have to spend a long time on his introduction. Charlie Northern is a Police Detective, a lapsed Catholic, who smokes lots and nicknames various people with rude or insulting names in his head. The lapsed Catholic bit is important not merely because the story is set in and around the Vatican. He’s also a big fan of conspiracy theories. However unlike many of Ellis’ characters, Jenkins manages to make Northern surprisingly likeable.
The subject matter is certainly far more adult than the art initially would suggest. From day one the book has been continually likened to the work of Dan Brown. It certainly plays up the notion it is a Da Vinci Code clone, even including a reference to The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail. The setting of the Vatican and the suggestion of secrets hidden within have been used long before Dan Brown was even a name anyone knew, but the series did not help itself with mosaic covers and not stressing certain elements that differentiate it quite clearly.
Back to the story and we have our English detective very much at odds with many of those he comes into contact with, partly because of his lack of faith, but also because everyone seems to be hiding something. There are secret societies, plenty of latin being spoken, gorgeous girls and a fair amount of blood. It barrels along at a good pace and you even get a major confrontation in a toilet.
I highly enjoyed Revelations. It is better than your average Dan Brown ripoffs because it plays successfully with misdirection. It is not however a good mystery. Because of its big twist Revelations ties things together too patly and that includes events outside of this mystery. A good mystery gives the readers all the clues to be able to solve the case themselves and presents them all in plain view. Revelations’ big twist means that we do not get afforded this opportunity and it is left to our villain to explain the plot to the audience and main character. True this explanation is the climax of Charlie’s character arc, but for it to have been a more effective twist more needed to be hinted at earlier on.
Revelations played nicely with the single issue format, containing cliffhangers galore, but reads equally well as a whole. It’s not entirely successful, but if you want an unusual comic, and want to see if you can spot various clues (apart from the latin) and guess the ending where I failed, then I would recommend this.
A preview of the series can be seen here
The collected trade paperback is released on 26 July 2006.
Mark Peyton – has a MA in History and Research from the University of Hull specialising in the Hundred Years War. In a complete departure from that he now runs communications and membership for a UK based Trade Union as well as being a part time writer/journalist.
He is a founding member of Millarworld acting as a moderator and as an editor for Fractal Matter.