World Famous Comics: Wendy Pini's Masque Of The Red Death Volume 1
Wendy Pini's Masque Of The Red Death Volume 1
By: Wendy Pini Publisher: Go! Media Entertainment Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Go! Media Entertainment Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 184 Publication Date: September 15, 2008
Product Description: In a decadent, perfect future, Anton Prosper uses his vast fortune and scientific genius to seek the ultimate power of life over death. But when the beautiful prodigy Steffan Kabala enters Prosper's life, he unlocks a tempestuous passion that may send the entire planet hurtling into a bloody maelstrom of destruction.
Wendy Pini, the renowned creator of "ElfQuest," has transformed the classic Edgar Allan Poe story into a tour-de-force of visual storytelling that is hypnotic, hallucinatory, and deeply erotic.
Wonderful New Work by Wendy Pini If you are looking for this new work by Wendy Pini to be ElfQuest think again. This is a wonderful, edgy adaptation of the Edgar Allen Poe's short story of the same name.
When I say edgy I mean edgy. It is wonderful to see an artist such as Wendy spread her creative wings on something new and totaly different. It is easy for us as the public, to pigeon hole an artist who is well known for one type of work of art and expression. But to be an artist one must always try new ways of expression. Brava Wendy.
The story is easy to follow as long as you keep in mind that is not earth, but a futuristic plant in another welm. Comparisions to earthlings is not the way to look at this story. Take it on it's own fanciful merit.
I found the book very rich in story and color. Very Poe like.
It seems to be a story of deeper meanings if you scratch below it's surface. Anton is a very complex and rich character. This will be a very interesting story as it unfolds. Wendy is showing us a more complex and deeper side of herself.
All I can say again is Brava Wendy,,,job well done and keep it up.
You don't have to like yaoi to be captivated by this. I followed this title as an online comic. Not being a particular fan of the yaoi genre (nor manga in general), I was drawn to this work as a long-time fan of Wendy Pini's Elfquest series. It took a little while for the story to take hold, but the lush tones and textures immediately held my interest, and the story won me over soon after.
It's even better in book form. The heavy, glossy pages really make the colors pop. Wendy's take on the human form has grown more stylized over the years, to charming effect. Her long-limbed men are scrumptious eye candy; the female form is rendered with equal skill.
It's a sexy piece of work, and although I don't think I'll be cruising the slash sites anytime soon, I can see the appeal of ogling a couple of lovely men going at one another. The woman entwines a good limb.
The greatest dazzle comes from her talent at costume design. The costumes alone are eye-poppingly glorious. The sets, like the background paintings in classic animated films, would be beautiful as stand-alone art prints framed on a gallery wall.
Wendy's visual style has evolved over the years, and she's learned to pull off some nifty effects with her digital tools. The tricks she was beginning to explore in the later Elfquest books finally blossom fully in this volume. It's been a joy to see her embrace technology and use it to spin out her vision with increasing precision for us all to see.
I guess you don't have to be a particular fan of manga, yaoi, gothic romance or sci-fi to like this one. I'm not, and I loved it. You just have to appreciate pretty pictures and a tantalizingly drawn-out story.
I'm ready for more.
Don't get if you're not a fan of yaoi For the uninitiated, the yaoi genre is composed of works (generally created by and for women) that feature beautiful, androgynous young men in romantic gay relationships. If that doesn't appeal to you, don't get this.
This was originally an online comic, which I did try to get into but found unreadable and impossible to follow. As a graphic novel it's a bit more palatable (at least there's no distracting Flash animation or pop-up word balloons), but the story, such as it is, is extremely thin. The reclusive, orphaned son of a zillionaire (the zillionaire father has a very spectacular death scene early in the book, where he winds up dead in the boardroom with his tongue hanging out in a comical manner) becomes obsessed with finding the scientific secret to immortality.
The whole premise doesn't make a lot of sense. How many 20-something rich kids are interested in finding the secret to immortality, as opposed to, say, going out and partying hard? Especially since it's made clear that lifespans are already greatly expanded by nanotechnology. The storyline is probably more Wendy Pini trying to come to grips with her own aging and mortality, which makes sense for a 50-something person without nanotechnology.
Beyond the very flimsy story, the book is mainly to showcase beautiful people in beautiful clothing and beautiful settings. There's lots and lots of soft lighting, Photoshop filters, people posing in speedos or other skimpy clothing while discussing philosophy. The male leads look dreamily at each other a lot. Wendy Pini inserts her Mary-Sue in as a vivacious blue-skinned artist/designer named Bunchh (yes, two Hs). Everyone in the story is a super-genius at what they do, and is also beautiful. I don't think there's any ugly, stupid or loser people in this world.
The artwork is very recongnizable if you're familiar with Elfquest. The faces, poses and costumes are pure Wendy Pini. The Photoshop coloring is extremely gaudy and in-your-face, with heavy use (overuse) of filters and other digital tricks. If you're familiar with Photoshop it's pretty easy pick out what was used where (noise filter here, transparency there, distort here, grain filter there, etc.) This is definitely not the book for subtle or masterful digital coloring.
In conclusion-- do get this if you're a fan of Wendy Pini's art and costume designs, and/or the yaoi genre.
Do not get this if you don't like willowy, androgynous gay guys mooning over each other. Do not get this is you're looking for a fast-moving, dynamic story with belivable characters and and setting that will keep you enthralled. Don't get this if you're looking for anything like Elfquest in terms of story or characters.
Not for the faint of stomach . . . I flipped through this at Barnes and Noble's - in the Science fiction section. And was stunned. I have been a long time reader of Elfquest and to see another work by Wendy Pini, well I was jubilant. Then came the next few minutes as I browsed through the book in growing disbelief.
Wow, the content. Not for the faint of heart or stomach. The images start off lovely, but those of you who are not into 'yaoi' will be shocked and sickened at what comes in about halfway through. For example, two guys in very explicit situations with all of the anatomical parts exactly where they should be just kind of 'faded out' so that you almost see them entirely during 'rear entry'. I wouldn't have minded a little more subtlety here, this hits you over the head like a 2 by 4. If you're into this, fine it won't bother you. But Amazon is selling this alongside Elfquest, which hinted at times and even got somewhat graphic, but nothing at this level of slam-in-your-face.
And her pic in the back of the book in her vampy underwear. Frankly, I kind of feel sorry for her. This should have remained between her and Richard if at all possible. She's at the stage where only your husband/lover can find you attractive, I mean, NOT sexy. Not in the least. I'm embarrassed for her. It's not at all flattering.
When you take into account the picture of Wendy leering from the back of the book, and flip through the contents, it's kind of sad to see her move into this area, and leave more creative ideas behind in the dust. Many Elfquest fans b--ched on the website that there are no gay elves, and obviously this is a thin excuse to offer some. The guys just lack the, uh, pointed ears.
For what it's worth they are working on finally making their movie for Elfquest, but in her free time, she's doing this kind of thing and yes, I'm disappointed that in the 4 years since her last work this is what her energy has gone into.
2 stars for the first 50 pages or so that looked very beautiful. If only the 'extras' could have been toned down. Stories can be told erotically and be more so because of what ISN'T shown. The 'rape' scene in Gone With the Wind for example.
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