RUMBLE VOLUME 1 review
(Reviewed by Melody Werner)
Rumble is an urban fantasy action comedy epic published by Image Comics which began in 2015. Written by John Arcudi and illustrated by James Harren, it tells the story of Rathraq, a deceased warrior god who's trapped in the body of a scarecrow, and now vengefully wishes to restart a war against the demons who stole his body, trapped him for eternity, and led to his dog dying. The first volume, What Color of Darkness?, collects the first five issues of the series. A lot of people seem to enjoy this series, and the second series of it begins this December with a new artist (David Rubin). So, I recently decided to blow through the first TPB. I'll say this about Rumble--it's pretty awesome.
The art can be sketchy at times, but it also lends itself extremely well to both depicting the monsters of Rumble and the action sequences. The character designs are a highlight of the series, with crazy and absurdly fantastic monster designs at every turn. James Harren came to Rumble from B.P.R.D., and that shows, though Harren has taken measures to ensure that Rumble is unique in terms of its character designs, when compared to the aforementioned series. The action is entertainingly kinetic and gory, and is not afraid to lap on the brutal, especially in the later issues of this series. The series also boasts fantastic visual polish with some great lettering and the such.
Rumble's greatest achievement in terms of writing is absolutely its world. While a lot of urban fantasies have the whole premise of "There's a world that we mortals just can't see or comprehend," to the point where that has become a cliche, Rumble stands out from the pack because of its intriguing mythos. It really builds itself up as an epic, and Rathraq's motivations are as primal as they come (by way of John Wick). But Rathraq himself is a phenomenal character--while he's driven by revenge in many ways, he has plenty of intricacies which you might not expect when you first start reading the series. The narrative is compelling because of how strong the characters and world-building are. The comedy is great, with quite a lot of laughs and silly moments, though they don't conflict with the darker elements of the series as the humor is black comedy and make sense contextually. The dialogue is solid and witty.
Rumble's first TPB is really entertaining and a promising start for the rest of the series. I'll definitely be reading the rest of Rumble's first run in the next coupla' months, so I can give my conclusive thoughts on the series before the new series starts up. Which I absolutely intend to get in on the ground floor for, if the next two volumes are as good as the first. Rumble "What Color of Darkness?" gets a 5/5.
Fantastic
Summary:
Great art, exceptional world-building, fantastic characters, badass action, incredible character designs, great comedy, and solid dialogue make Rumble's first arc worth reading.
Rumble is an urban fantasy action comedy epic published by Image Comics which began in 2015. Written by John Arcudi and illustrated by James Harren, it tells the story of Rathraq, a deceased warrior god who's trapped in the body of a scarecrow, and now vengefully wishes to restart a war against the demons who stole his body, trapped him for eternity, and led to his dog dying. The first volume, What Color of Darkness?, collects the first five issues of the series. A lot of people seem to enjoy this series, and the second series of it begins this December with a new artist (David Rubin). So, I recently decided to blow through the first TPB. I'll say this about Rumble--it's pretty awesome.
The art can be sketchy at times, but it also lends itself extremely well to both depicting the monsters of Rumble and the action sequences. The character designs are a highlight of the series, with crazy and absurdly fantastic monster designs at every turn. James Harren came to Rumble from B.P.R.D., and that shows, though Harren has taken measures to ensure that Rumble is unique in terms of its character designs, when compared to the aforementioned series. The action is entertainingly kinetic and gory, and is not afraid to lap on the brutal, especially in the later issues of this series. The series also boasts fantastic visual polish with some great lettering and the such.
Rumble's greatest achievement in terms of writing is absolutely its world. While a lot of urban fantasies have the whole premise of "There's a world that we mortals just can't see or comprehend," to the point where that has become a cliche, Rumble stands out from the pack because of its intriguing mythos. It really builds itself up as an epic, and Rathraq's motivations are as primal as they come (by way of John Wick). But Rathraq himself is a phenomenal character--while he's driven by revenge in many ways, he has plenty of intricacies which you might not expect when you first start reading the series. The narrative is compelling because of how strong the characters and world-building are. The comedy is great, with quite a lot of laughs and silly moments, though they don't conflict with the darker elements of the series as the humor is black comedy and make sense contextually. The dialogue is solid and witty.
Rumble's first TPB is really entertaining and a promising start for the rest of the series. I'll definitely be reading the rest of Rumble's first run in the next coupla' months, so I can give my conclusive thoughts on the series before the new series starts up. Which I absolutely intend to get in on the ground floor for, if the next two volumes are as good as the first. Rumble "What Color of Darkness?" gets a 5/5.
Fantastic
Summary:
Great art, exceptional world-building, fantastic characters, badass action, incredible character designs, great comedy, and solid dialogue make Rumble's first arc worth reading.
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