The Fallen: Cold Religion - Mobile Edition

Religion and Comics
The Fallen: Cold Religion
By Hervé St.Louis
February 19, 2006 - 21:35

NBM Publishing
Writer(s): David Aaron Clark
Penciller(s): David Rankin
Cover Artist(s): David Rankin

The second volume of a series of graphic novels by author Aaron Clark, The Fallen is the story of a man hunting demons and other nether creatures of the night who prey on sado maso practitioners.

There are several plot points moving at the same time making this graphic novel very difficult to understand. Many characters have internal monologues which often sound the same. The lettering does not help differentiate anything either. There are elements of this story that are captivating, but the author buries them under long exposition which does not help the story move further. It is not a pleasing experience.

The visuals are of no use here. The concept of storytelling to back up complex narrative has been thrown out the door in favour of lyrical atmospheres that make readers of this book feel smart and sophisticated without having learned anything or accomplished much. Sure, the artwork is evocative, and well painted, but it is useless and too self-conscious. Might as well forgo the entire visual aspects if one is supposed to rely on complex texts to make it through this comic book. Perhaps I’m just not Gothic enough . . .