Meridian #29

A little bit more than 24 hours until departure. Well, actually more like 18 hours until we depart our hotel. Three more comics in the to-read stack after this one, which I almost certainly bought just for the absolutely awesome cover.

Title: Meridian
Issue: #29
Publisher: Crossgen
Date: November, 2002
Writer: Barbara Kesel
Penciler: Steve McNiven
Inker: Tom Simmons
Colorist: Morry Hollowell
Letterer: Troy Peteri
Cover: Steve McNiven, Tom Simmons, Morry Hollowell

I reviewed issue #4 recently, with heir-in-exile Sephie trying to reclaim rulership of her floating island home. By the time we get to this issue, Sephie has at least partially solidified her position of power and is distracting herself with a logbook left by her parents as she tries to deal with the political dance of rulership.

As a result, almost this entire issue is a flashback with bits of narration by Sephie for framing. The story is visually awesome, and introduces a particularly standout character in glider-riding, cutlass-wielding General Coraqam.

It was also a bit on the crowded side with lots of political intrique, character interaction, and an assassination attempt. The visuals are beautiful throughout (and as I mentioned above, the cover is amazing), but this was not the most accessible issue for a newbie to the series.

Rating: 7/10

Benjamin Franklin: History's Greatest Time Traveler

Title: Benjamin Franklin: History's Greatest Time Traveler: How I spent My Summer Vacation
Date: 2002
Publisher: Ron LeBrasseur (ron_lebrasseur@comcast.net)
Writer: Ron LeBrasseur
Artist: Ron LeBrasseur

This was originally submitted to the SPX 2002 anthology, and is in minicomic form and billed as the "story SPX didn't want you to see".

Derek needs to improvise an oral report for the first day of class about how he spent his summer vacation. So, of course he tells the tale of how he helped time traveler Benjamin Franklin defeat Fifty-Foot Mecha Lincoln. The teacher is not all that impressed. A couple of funny jokes at the end; the rest of the story is fairly straightforward.

Rating: 5.5/10

Happy Exelauno Day!