The Chimera Strikes

From the random stack of unread comics.

Title: The Chimera Strikes
Date: 2007
Publisher: Satyr Play Productions
Writer: Mike Indovina
Artist: Paul E. Schultz
Editor: Melissa Rogalla

This is a fun b/w pulp adventure story with a character taking on the identity of an old pulp hero and donning a mask to fight crime in modern times. It's all told from the point of view of his girlfriend/sidekick, who is really the star of the story. Or rather I should say, it's the interplay between them that steals the show here.

The action is crisp throughout, and the dialogue is a fun mix of sensible and over-the-top pulp. The story provides a nice introduction for the characters and sets the stage for further adventures still to come.

Rating: 7.5/10

Timeless #1

Title: Timeless
Issue: #1
Date: 2009
Publisher: Satyr Play Productions
Writer: Mike Indovina
Artist: Mike Indovina

Clever multi-layered story about a female comic book creator whose connection to Greek mythology turns out to be a lot more than just the inspiration for her comics. This had good touches of humor while it handily tied up plot threads involving time travel and reincarnation.

Pyrrha Stavros, the main character, is a terrific heroine. She's strong and geeky, and she is not intimidated by the sudden appearance of mystical forces in her life. Her voice rings true and creator Mike Indovina has clearly put a lot of thought into establishing her fictional line of comic books, so that there are some fun hints of stories within stories to be enjoyed.

The art style is cartoonish and whimsical, and fits the general flavor of the book.

My only complaint is that the story is very dialogue heavy. To the point where one character is mocked for being long-winded, and his speech pattern doesn't come across as all that different than anyone else's. Part of this is the limitation of the webcomic format (this book was originally published as a webcomic), where a certain amount of information needs to be conveyed to the reader with each installment, but it still comes off as a very wordy book.

That being said, it's also a truly fun book to read.

Rating: 8/10