jnikolova's review against another edition
2.0
Also available on the WondrousBooks blog.
I will go with No. This is one of those books where the characters are over-hyping themselves and each other, because otherwise it would be hard for the reader to realize that something supposedly important is happening.
"Oh, these guys are rockstars!", "He is a legend", "Their research changed the world!" Okay then, if the author made his characters call each other brilliant, then we must be reading about truly amazing individuals. Not.
Nowhere Men is a very confusing, messy, and unconvincing attempt at sci-fi. There is no science anywhere in the entire volume, just a bunch of characters that make things happen and you are supposed to buy into the idea that they did it thanks to science. However, considering that the author doesn't bother to give any information about the level of actual technological development in this world, or on where humanity was before the science Beatles came into the picture, this so-called "science" could as well be magic, for all the reader knows.
There is a large jumble of seemingly important individuals, including 4 interchangeable scientist gods, who did... something, and then... something happened, and some substance was created somehow. Sometime in the past someone somehow decided to put it on a spaceship for some reason, which created some kind of a virus, which is not actually a virus. Now you know as much as I do, having read the first volume.
If you stripped the story to its bare bones, you would find a striking resemblance to the Fantastic 4, including the design of the characters on the space ship. The science rockstars remain a mystery, as does their importance, however, the reader must be aware that even though they seem like a bunch of squabbling, greedy old assholes, apparently all of them are geniuses.
It's really hard to find any characters to care about, or to be convinced to believe in any part of the story. The self-explanatory articles and interviews with the characters don't help. On the contrary, they make the story even more dragged out, and they nudge the reader into the land of "Who cares?".
The part that I did like, more or less, was the art. It was solid, well-made, and comforting. I was glad to see that they didn't go for anything more experimental, because that would have added to the overall ridiculousness of the volume.
I will go with No. This is one of those books where the characters are over-hyping themselves and each other, because otherwise it would be hard for the reader to realize that something supposedly important is happening.
"Oh, these guys are rockstars!", "He is a legend", "Their research changed the world!" Okay then, if the author made his characters call each other brilliant, then we must be reading about truly amazing individuals. Not.
Nowhere Men is a very confusing, messy, and unconvincing attempt at sci-fi. There is no science anywhere in the entire volume, just a bunch of characters that make things happen and you are supposed to buy into the idea that they did it thanks to science. However, considering that the author doesn't bother to give any information about the level of actual technological development in this world, or on where humanity was before the science Beatles came into the picture, this so-called "science" could as well be magic, for all the reader knows.
There is a large jumble of seemingly important individuals, including 4 interchangeable scientist gods, who did... something, and then... something happened, and some substance was created somehow. Sometime in the past someone somehow decided to put it on a spaceship for some reason, which created some kind of a virus, which is not actually a virus. Now you know as much as I do, having read the first volume.
If you stripped the story to its bare bones, you would find a striking resemblance to the Fantastic 4, including the design of the characters on the space ship. The science rockstars remain a mystery, as does their importance, however, the reader must be aware that even though they seem like a bunch of squabbling, greedy old assholes, apparently all of them are geniuses.
It's really hard to find any characters to care about, or to be convinced to believe in any part of the story. The self-explanatory articles and interviews with the characters don't help. On the contrary, they make the story even more dragged out, and they nudge the reader into the land of "Who cares?".
The part that I did like, more or less, was the art. It was solid, well-made, and comforting. I was glad to see that they didn't go for anything more experimental, because that would have added to the overall ridiculousness of the volume.
Thanks, Nowhere Men, see you never.
eekgranola's review against another edition
4.0
Weird, beautifully laid out and I can't wait to read the next one!
stiricide's review against another edition
4.0
Me: i enjoyed this more than I thought I would and m very excited to see where this goes!
Also me: WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS STARTED IN 2013 AND THERE ARE ONLY ELEVEN ISSUES OUT? THIS IS BULLSHIT.
Also me: WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS STARTED IN 2013 AND THERE ARE ONLY ELEVEN ISSUES OUT? THIS IS BULLSHIT.
jhstack's review against another edition
3.0
A good start with an interesting premise, but there are still unanswered questions that will remain unanswered because the series is on an extended hiatus. Still, the colors by Jordan Bellaire and lettering from Fonografiks is excellent, and the whole volume has a feeling of 'Manhattan Projects' meets 'Fringe' meets, well, The Beatles.
orangerful's review against another edition
4.0
What a crazy trip of a book! It took a lot to wrap my head around this strange, alternate world where scientists are treated like rock stars.
old_tim's review against another edition
5.0
A fantastic start to a new series. I loved it.
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-would-have-gotten-away-with-it-if-it.html
http://fedpeaches.blogspot.com/2013/11/i-would-have-gotten-away-with-it-if-it.html
lacywolfe's review against another edition
3.0
Loved the layout and organization. The design of the advertisements for World Corp are gorgeous.
lonecayt's review against another edition
3.0
That was a surprisingly intense read for a graphic novel. I'm not sure what to think about it yet. I appreciated the Beatles quotes at the beginning and end, though.
carroq's review against another edition
3.0
Meh! Okay, so the book isn't as bad as that, but it does have some issues breaking up a lot of the potential. It's loosely based around these four characters that revolutionized science in the mainstream, had a falling out, and dispersed. A lot of the book follows what happens, but there are two major issues that I see as a reader. One, I don't particularly care about any of these four characters. Two, I have no idea how they managed to pull off their biggest accomplishment. I feel these go hand in hand and the story could have been better by clueing the reader in.
Despite that failing, there is some interesting stuff in this book. The secondary storyline, which follows a group of scientists on a space station, involves a mysterious infection that changes a persons physiology. The results remind me of the X-Men in how varied the changes are and the fact that some of these characters get strange powers. It seems like the idea is to converge these two storylines down the road, but there aren't many hints as to how that is going to happen.
The art is pretty good. The way the book is laid out, particularly with some of the backup pieces that are meant to expand on those four main characters, is a nice touch. It can slow the reading down at times, but it tries something different in the comic medium and attempts to flesh out the setting.
Despite that failing, there is some interesting stuff in this book. The secondary storyline, which follows a group of scientists on a space station, involves a mysterious infection that changes a persons physiology. The results remind me of the X-Men in how varied the changes are and the fact that some of these characters get strange powers. It seems like the idea is to converge these two storylines down the road, but there aren't many hints as to how that is going to happen.
The art is pretty good. The way the book is laid out, particularly with some of the backup pieces that are meant to expand on those four main characters, is a nice touch. It can slow the reading down at times, but it tries something different in the comic medium and attempts to flesh out the setting.