Genecy #2 review

If you like Conan the Barbarian and Silver Surfer, this could be the series for you. The first issue from InVision Comics tells of how enslaved Kaizaxx, the only survivor of a prison breakout, accepts the power of cosmic god Raknirod. The deal is that the newly named Genecy embarks on a quest for Raknirod who will, in return, free his people from the evil Grunnodians. At the moment, Raknirod is an echo of himself, but if Genecy returns with three ‘cosmic energy orbs’ he’ll be back to full strength.

In this second issue, Genecy flies through the cosmos, reaching the speed of light as he thinks about his past.

Distracted, he loses control of his power… and two worlds die. Enraged, he races back to the dome where Raknirod manifested, but the god is sleeping. Very awake, though, is the disciple Rathgar, who Raknirod had placed in an amulet around Genecy’s neck to help him as needed. Unfortunately, he’s in no mood to help.

Equally matched in power and passion, their fight ends only when Raknirod awakes…

… which is exactly what happened in the first issue. I read Genecy #1 and #2 back to back and I can’t fault the enthusiasm of writer Gerald Cooper, his evident determination to begin a massive star-spanning saga. The problem is, it’s very repetitive, and there’s sooooo much exposition, much of it using grandiloquent prose, the ten dollar words rendered nigh unreadable by huge, fiddly fonts overlaying the art. Words and pictures are battling throughout, with no editorial Raknirod to make them stop. Layers of simplification would go a long way.

Kaizaxx is the classic barbarian when not using his powers, but when he powers up he’s visually somewhere between Silver Surfer and Jack of Hearts. While the first issue benefited from having veteran Eddy Barrows draw a double-length story, many hands handle this 24pp tale – Diego Bernard, Mshindo, Allan Goldman, Victor Ishimura, Aaron Meade and… Bart Sears. I couldn’t spot the Justice League Europe artist here, which is a tribute to how well the various artists blend together. Mind, while there are some very nice individual images, it’s hard to follow the story at times.

Meade also inks, along with Andy Smith, and handles the lettering, working hard to meet the complex demands of the script.

Colours come from Walt Barna, and they’re as bright as you could wish for; I happen to like pages that pop, so I’m good with that.

A nice surprise is the back-up The Trials of Tanaan (not Canaan, honest!), the first in a series telling of Kaizaxx’s early years. Carlo Dolson and Sean Hill provide attractive, clear art as we see our hero learn a lesson from one of his brothers in a fighting arena.

Aaron Meade joins Hill on inks, and again letters, keeping things a lot simpler here and Cooper’s dramatic script benefits enormously. Then there’s the sepia-style colours of Dolson, which lend the story the feeling of a Savage Sword of Conan magazine.

Hopefully the main strip in Genecy will soon take as straightforward an approach as the eight-page back-up, with less of the early Seventies Marvel Cosmic style of writing and more faith being put in the art to help tell the tale.

If you’re a fan of space opera and savagery, you’ll likely like this very much. I’m not the audience for it, but I do appreciate the effort that’s gone into Genecy. You can download it for the tiny price of 99c or print it out for $5 by visiting this link.