Review - Uber Volume 1Review by Paul Fiander
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Writer: Kieron Gillen
Cover & Art: Caanan White Published by; Avatar Press Uber Volume 1 will be releasing in April 2014. |
World War 2 is a very fertile ground for writers in both the fiction and non-fiction category. However Writer Kieron Gillen has decided to rewrite history with his series Uber. Set at the end of the war as we know it with the Nazi’s in retreat and the allied forces advancing on Berlin all looks lost for the Reich. However somewhere on the Austrian/Swiss border lays a potential lifeline for the Axis power in the form of 3 Battleships. These are no boats instead they are a group of genetically and scientifically enhanced humans who could now be considered super heroes/villains depending on your standpoint.
It’s very odd looking at the end of the war from the German point of view. Most stories will concentrate on the allies but Gillen has chosen not to conform to convention and so creates a story that has the ability to shock and surprise you in equal measure. Uber is listed as a horror book and I find this hard to understand it has elements of gore and Caanan White does an excellent job portraying this. At no point though did I find it horrifying but if you do have a weak stomach you may want to sidestep this book as visually no punches are pulled.
It’s very odd looking at the end of the war from the German point of view. Most stories will concentrate on the allies but Gillen has chosen not to conform to convention and so creates a story that has the ability to shock and surprise you in equal measure. Uber is listed as a horror book and I find this hard to understand it has elements of gore and Caanan White does an excellent job portraying this. At no point though did I find it horrifying but if you do have a weak stomach you may want to sidestep this book as visually no punches are pulled.
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This trade collects 6 issues of Uber from Issue 0 to 5
between them they create the stories first arc. I’m not always sure about zero
issues but Uber’s attempt at the convention does a relatively good job. You get
the background of the fall of Berlin as history dictated but I found I was not
buying into the German characters sense of impending doom. This kind of
portrayal is very difficult to achieve in any art form but especially so in
sequential art. Otherwise the art is generally created to a very good standard
there are points where your jaw will drop especially in the fifth issue but
overall White has done a great job bringing the images to Gillen’s work. The
start of the first issue has perhaps the most striking image I have ever seen
in a comic. I’ll leave the detail brief and will only use the words Hitler and
Gun.
The story as I have already alluded to allows Gillen to run wild as he unleashes the Battleships on the poorly equipped allies. Throughout the story we run into real world characters from the aforementioned Hitler to Churchill and a host of WW2 generals, but it’s actually two Women who really steal the show in terms of narrative. Stephanie and the new Nazi poster girl Battleship Sieglinde are central to the story and both show themselves as key to their countries survival in very different ways. I’m particularly impressed by the way Stephanie is portrayed as a very cold calculating scientist almost at the expense of any measure of empathy. She describes herself as a bitch and she does flinch from her role. Unfortunately I do have an issue with a few aspects of the story most notably is the way one of history’s greatest orators is voiced. The difficulty with using characters that we have recordings of is that replicating their voices can be a difficult task. I think Gillen’s, Churchill sounds pretty good but his Hitler feels lacking. This is a man who was able to take over a country with the strength of his voice and his Uber depiction seems to lack that strength. It’s a personal issue and it does not detract too much from the story. |
Overall Uber is a great story however with its graphic nature I can give it a universal recommendation. However if graphic (as in gore) comics rest easily on your sensibilities then I encourage you to join me in reading Uber you will not be disappointed.
Rating 4/5
Images courtesy of Titan Books
Book - Provided by Titan Books
Book - Provided by Titan Books
