ARCHAIA ENTERTAINMENT

Comic Book Resources reviews Strange Attractors! And they do a great job of it. This is a really meaty review, covering all aspects of the book: synopsis, plot development, characters, writing style, artwork, design, and coloring. There are a lot of layers that build up into this incredibly unique thriller, so it’s certainly worth the read.

Comic Book Resources:

Soule does a nice job unwinding the story – he takes his time, makes sure he gives us plenty of layers, doesn’t forget to foreshadow some dire thing coming down the pike and how odd events conspire to create a situation of drama.

The writing is quite good in the book – Soule keeps a lot of balls in the air, but he never forgets any character and he makes sure to tie everything together into his grand plot.

 Lyon and Petz use shifts in the palette quite well – when events are occurring that may lead to the destruction of the city, they stick to basic colors to highlight the important stuff in the panel, and it helps us track certain things throughout the comic.

Full review here.

Drunk on Comics has a Strange Attractors review!

“I met Charles Soule at C2E2 when he was featured at the Archaia Entertainment booth. We chatted a bit as I flipped through his OGN Strange Attractors, and I liked the concept enough to buy it on the spot. Now I’ve read it, and I can assure you it’s worth the investment.

First of all, it’s an embossed hardcover. It just feels good in the hand. (Try that with digital.) The art by Greg Scott is perfect. It feels like a movie unspooling with clever camera angles and expressive faces – important, because this is a thinking story not an action story. New York City is featured as both a setting and a character and Greg captures both her grime and opulence perfectly. The colors by Art Lyon & Matthew Petz do an amazing job of making the important moments stand out by using limited palettes on them, while making the rest of the scenes feel vivid and real. The colors are muted, not gaudy, until the effects kick in and then they pop with power.”

You can read the rest of the article on the Drunk on Comics website!

ARCHAIA PANEL OF THE DAY - STORYTELLER

More of the beloved Henson classic, telling stories by the fireplace about all kinds of people and their exciting adventures.

Could the recently released Mumbai Confidential be “a defining work in graphic literature?” Geekadelphia certainly has some thoughts along those lines!

In a very enthusiastic review, they write:

“Mumbai Confidential is flat out brilliant, an instant classic that when people want to read a perfect example of noir storytelling in comics, this is the book they will look for.

Taking place in India during the time of the Encounter Squads, groups of rouge cops who end up becoming the criminals they are trying to eliminate, it’s a story that grabs you from page one and just doesn’t let go. The characters Mohapatra has created are multidimensional, fully realized people whom you quickly become very invested in, even with all their faults. The artwork by Shinde is gritty, dark and full of shadow, just like the story itself, but still beautiful in it’s own way. In fact, the writing and art complement each other so perfectly that you could almost believe they were done by the same person, not two individuals. ”

If you’re interested in this brand-new crime noir from Archaia, be sure to read the full review here, and check out the book on our website or wherever books are sold!

Drew from Multiversity Comics gets into the nitty-gritty details of the theory behind Strange Attractors’ design, what influenced its creation, and how he wove complex topics into a beautifully intriguing graphic novel. Get a first-hand perspective into the creative mind of Charles Soule in the full interview.

Strange Attractors goes on sale on May 15th, so don’t miss your chance to delve into the dangerous chaos of complexity theory and save New York City in a way you never thought possible!

In the meantime, here’s a preview:

MC: For those unfamiliar, what is the general idea of “Strange Attractors”?

CS: It’s a story about New York City, where I’ve lived for the past sixteen years or so. In essence, it’s about a genius mathematician who figures out how to use complexity theory (the Butterfly Effect, basically) to turn the entire city into one integrated system, or machine. He makes it his life’s calling to keep the whole thing running no matter what happens. However, he’s quite old and sickly, and he’s terrified that NYC will simply collapse after he’s gone, in particular because his techniques allow him to forecast an oncoming crisis that will level the city. So, he takes on an apprentice, a young grad student. There’s a ticking clock related to whether the young guy can learn the old guy’s techniques in time, not to mention whether the old dude’s just some ancient nutbag. It’s a little sci-fi, a little secret history and a lot of NYC. I love it.

MC: The premise sounds like a cross between Asimov’s “Foundation” series and the Person of Interest television show. Are you familiar with either of those?

CS: Foundation, certainly, although I haven’t seen Person of Interest. I’ve heard good things, though. The main foundation (ahem) of the story is based in actual science, even if it’s applied in a fictionalized way in the book. The idea that small initial efforts can have gigantic end results when applied to a complex system is a long-established principle that’s popped up a number of times in books, films, etc. I’d just say that here it’s applied in a way that I hope is unique and interesting – that was the goal, anyway. I mean, 2001 and Star Wars both have spaceships in them, but they take a pretty different approach.

Did you know some graphic novels are appropriate for use in the classroom? Here, Dr. Meryl Jaffe provides some teaching suggestions for incorporating Royden Lepp’s Rust into a lesson plan.

Some of these ideas seem like they’d be a lot of fun:

Classroom Suggestions: As these books are appropriate for all ages, classroom suggestions become more layered.   I would recommend that these volumes be used by students grades 4+

For middle-school learners:

• Discuss what it was like living in Dust Bowl of the 1930’s.  
• You may want to compare this book to Karen Hesse’s Out of the Dust [by Karen Hesse is about a girl, living in the Dust Bowl who suffers a debilitating accident shortly after the death of her mother, and must learn to face life’s harsh lessons with patience and grace.  This novel is written solely in prose and poetry and the author’s use of language is breathtaking]. 
• You can discuss the different story-telling aspects of prose, poetry and image.]or to the famous and powerful photographs of Dorothea Lange

Discuss the role of family, responsibility and issues of ‘coming of age’ Discuss the role of heroes vs. anti-heroes

For high school learners these books might be read when discussing

• War and its effect on families, farms, civilians;
• AI - Artificial intelligence: where we are today, its possibilities, the pros and cons of using AI in our daily lives;
• Drone warfare
• The changing roles of heroes and anti-heroes;

The full review and lesson plans can be read here.

Today, our Panel of the Day comes from a work everyone who knows Archaia should be familiar with: Artesia.

Originally published by Sirius Entertainment in 1999, Mark created Archaia Studio Press in order to continue self-publishing this book. Business ensued and ASP grew into the Archaia that you know today. Besides for having roots in Archaia’s creation, this book has some serious style, with powerful commanding characters and art to match.

ARCHAIA PANEL OF THE DAY - BLACK FIRE

It’s better to be cautious when you live in a world where you can’t trust your comrades… the world is dark and full of horrible things in Black Fire.