Faction #0
Reviewed by Liam Bradley
FACTION #0
Writer: Erik Hendrix
Pencils: Arnie Gordon
Colors: Michael Nelsen
Price: $2 for PDF and $3.50 for paper copy.
Publishers' Blurb:
The year is 2025 and the worlds' governments are focused on eradicating the escalating terrorist threat in the Middle East secretly supported by the demonic Den Malignity. This effort has left Master Sergeant Acker Kinney, a Special Ops Medic, scarred and short an arm, forever changed.
When Acker is attacked by a demonic minion while recovering from his wounds in a military hospital, he is saved by Knights from the Society of the Enlightened. Soon he will be one of them; men and women blessed by God with countless lifetimes of knowledge and rediscovered powers.
The Society and the Den Malignity, enemies in an eternal struggle, must react when other factions, long thought banished or destroyed, rise to reclaim what was theirs. The Society and its knights must determine in this changed landscape who their allies and enemies are as factions vie for a stake in the world's destiny.
The schemes of gods, the desires of demons, the powers of nature, myth, and the supernatural - all set forth to control a world the Society has sworn to protect. This is Faction.
Reviewer Comments:
This is a perfect representation of what an indie comic should be.
For me, an indie comic should be raw and have a good story. It shouldn't necessarily be controversial, but it should have something so unique that it separates it from the glitz and glamour of mainstream comics. Faction is just that, it has stripped away everything that is unnecessary in comics and stuck purely to a good story and content. That, to me, is what makes a comic truly enjoyable. When the comic is realistic and not decorated with an abundance of zany colloquialisms, "special" effects and forced dialogue that, let's just face it, no one would ever use! Don't get me wrong, I love the unrealistic issues Marvel and DC put out. But it is always nice to have that break and get back to reality a bit.
What Erik Hendrix has done with this comic may not be intentional, but it damn well worked out in his favour either way. His writing is shrewdly presented with realistic vocabulary and tones. He hasn't tried to dress this comic up with any fancy or wordy dialogue. This appealed to me a great deal because I'm a big nitpicker of dialogue, especially when it comes to the big two. Somehow every character while in a fatal and frantic situation, somehow manages to spout sentences that belong in the mouth of an English professor; it's just unrealistic to me. However the narration and dialogue in this comic is straight to the point and realistic. I think that's what allowed me to relate to the characters the most. They actually sounded like regular human beings, which is nice. They're not regular humans but whatever, that's beside the point.
Arnie Gordon's pencils in this are gritty, raw and even careless at times. But I Iove it! It gave the book a raw and edgy style which truly takes you back to the core of what an indie comic actually is! Again it might just be a happy accident, but it worked out awesomely.
The pencils are only complimented by Michael Nelsen's grey tones. I'm not a big fan of comic books with no color, but this really did work. Although I do personally think that this book would've rocked slightly harder if it had interior colors similar to the exterior colors. But again, as I said, it's not needed.
For such a short read it's had quite a heavy impact. It's bittersweet when you come across something so great, but only a small amount of people know about it. On one hand you've got access to this awesome thing that not everyone knows about yet. On the other you've got something that deserves to be known. For Erik and the gang's sake I hope people do pick this up and realise how much of a gem it really is.
Oh and before I forget, it's loaded with bonus material!
FANS - There are two ways for fans to get Faction Zero.
- Order direct - http://www.dimestoredistro.com. Look up Faction, or item DSP-I09-F0. You can download for $2.00 or purchase the printed version for $3.50 plus postage BEFORE AUGUST 31st!
- PRINT COPY - http://www.dimestoredistro.com/faction-0-2274.html
- PDF DOWNLOAD - http://www.dimestoredistro.com/faction-0-dl-2275.html
- Go to your local comic book store and give them the below retailer information, explaining that you want them to carry the book and, well, hopefully they will! Make sure they place their orders ON OR BEFORE AUGUST 31st!
RETAILERS - There are two ways to get copies to your store.
- Order from Haven directly by going to http://www.havendistro.com, sign up, send a mail to Haven requesting to be set up as a retailer account, gather pre-orders from your store and then search for Faction to order. All orders must be turned in for Faction on or before AUGUST 31st! Issues will deliver in September.
- Order from DimeStore directly by going to http://www.dimestoredistro.com, sign up, send an email to DimeStore requesting to be set up as a retailer account, gather pre-orders from your store and then search for Faction DSP-I09-F0. Issues will deliver in September. PRINT COPY - http://www.dimestoredistro.com/faction-0-2274.html
If you want to learn more about Faction, check out http://www.beardedladyonline.com/faction.
Any questions about ordering, Faction in general, etc, email erik@beardedladyonline.com.
Take A Look Inside
Reviewer Bio
Liam Bradley / Creator and Writer
My name's Liam Bradley and I live in Glasgow, Scotland. I've been a major comic fan since I was six years old and since then I've always wanted to create my own comics. I've recently been converted from a Marvel Zombie to an Indy Snob. I still love Marvel and DC stuff but most recently I've been picking up a lot of Indy titles. I'm currently scripting two projects right now, and toying with some ideas for a third and fourth project. I also do Indy reviews over at projectfanboy.
Liambradley22@googlemail.com
www.projectfanboy.com
www.scarletvulture.deviantart.com
www.liambradley.wordpress.com
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