A review by magnetgrrl
Crossing Midnight, Vol. 1: Cut Here by Rob Hunter, Mark Pennington, Mike Carey, Jim Fern
3.0
I bought the first short trade paperback collection of the Crossing Midnight series because I had heard many good things about it, but it took me nearly a year to actually finish the trade - which I think is saying a lot because it's comprised of only 5 issues, and I generally read single issues of comics in under two minutes – at least the first time through, anyway. There is something incredibly... dense, and a little hard to get into about these first issues, most likely due to the difficulty of simultaneously trying to set up realistic and interesting characters, to be respectful and faithful to the Japanese setting, and to start digging into the amazingly complicated Japanese folklore world, all while beginning to tell what will hopefully turn out to be an engrossing and entertaining story. But if you can manage to sink in, I suspect Crossing Midnight will be worth it.
Mike Carey, writer of the long-running Lucifer series, has always been a little hit-or-miss for me in some aspects, but he's an ambitious writer and while sometimes certain phrases falter or details ring false, his overarching plots and concepts are grandiose and moving in a way a la Sandman or [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175041710s/472331.jpg|4358649] that I tend to love. I look forward to reading more of Crossing Midnight. While some issues will hopefully have really good moments, and other issues or story arcs may likely fall flat, the overall series definitely has the potential to be interesting and poignant and an exciting, fantastical story.
I would love to know what those more into Japanese culture, or who have read more Manga centered around Shinto beliefs and ancient animistic Japanese folklore think of this series, especially as it goes on and the plot threads began in this first arc develop further.
Mike Carey, writer of the long-running Lucifer series, has always been a little hit-or-miss for me in some aspects, but he's an ambitious writer and while sometimes certain phrases falter or details ring false, his overarching plots and concepts are grandiose and moving in a way a la Sandman or [b:Watchmen|472331|Watchmen|Alan Moore|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175041710s/472331.jpg|4358649] that I tend to love. I look forward to reading more of Crossing Midnight. While some issues will hopefully have really good moments, and other issues or story arcs may likely fall flat, the overall series definitely has the potential to be interesting and poignant and an exciting, fantastical story.
I would love to know what those more into Japanese culture, or who have read more Manga centered around Shinto beliefs and ancient animistic Japanese folklore think of this series, especially as it goes on and the plot threads began in this first arc develop further.