Publisher: Boom
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artist: Jeff Stokely
Colourist: André May
Release date: OUT NOW
Price: $3.99

Take a pinch of Game of Thrones, throw in a touch of X-Men, add a cod-Shakespearian speaking thief for comic relief and a sort of female Judge Dredd main character, in a grim, futuristic landscape and what have you got? Something for everyone or a complete mish-mash of borrowed ideas? Actually, this isn’t bad at all.

The Spire, a place full of human and non-human inhabitants, is a mountain of metal and stone that rises out of the toxic Nowherelands. So far, so dystopian and one day they’re going to run out of names for this sort of place. Add to that a shift in the prevailing power base due to the untimely demise of a Baron, so long live the Baroness, and you know it’s just not going to end well.

The Spire, with its British, sensibility is the story of City Watch Commander Shå, a Medusi (she has razor-thin tentacles), the only one in the Spire. Or is she? As one Will Eisner-ish child tells her, “You got lots’a legs, lady.” The impatient, hard-boiled officer with an attitude is part squid, party Kinsey Millhone and part Continental Op. “Your breath is a leporous lungfart,” she tells an officious guard.

Spurrier in just a few pages has created a completely original universe of genuine interest, infused with reality. Spurrier’s exposition not only moves the story forward, but along the way gives insight into some of the Spire’s inhabitants. Stokley’s loose art fits the mood, with expressive faces, and his city details are Moebius-like. A full-page spread of the crime scene is bloody but poignant.

With so much happening in the first oversized issue, The Spire promises to be epic. A new universe is born, and you will want to see more of it.

Reviewers: Joe Lovece & Gary Orchard
Reviews Editor: Steve Hooker