cover image Cyber Realm

Cyber Realm

Wren McDonald. Nobrow (Consortium, dist.), $5.95 trade paper (24p) ISBN 978-1-907704-91-8

Nicolas and his son are trying to survive in a postapocalyptic world. When enforcers sent by the overlord known as the Master attack Nicholas, robots rebuild him to enact a complicated and visually appealing but familiar revenge. There’s a really nice French-comics vibe in McDonald’s (Plantr) page construction and thin linework, with 10–12 panels per page featuring medium perspectives making up most of the comic. McDonald shows some excellent extended fight scenes in detail, punch by punch. The graph paper–like look is innovative and contrasts nicely with the stark, pink-purple mountains that make up other sections. Unfortunately, the plot itself paints by the numbers (tragedy, recovery, fight underboss, get revenge, ironic twist). There’s a great sense of action and strong art, but it’s not enough to cover the shortfalls of a story readers can predict too easily. (Aug.)