‘World War X: Vol. 1’ Review
Written by Jerry Frissen | Art by Peter Snejbjerg | Published by Titan Comics | Format: Hardback, 56pp
Adesh Khan is an anthropologist working on the top secret Project IX, a project that aims to reconnect ancient stone blocks in a circle as they were 4 billion years ago. However, when someone else on the project alerts him to warnings of an alien threat that appear to be etched on one of the blocks and fearing the worst, Adesh tries to let the President know as well as try to reach his estranged wife, Tara, working on one of the other blocks. Elsewhere, a mysterious and wealthy man known only as Helios has assembled a combat team ready to fight an enemy he’s fought throughout the ages.
I’ll be blunt. World War X is as cookie cutter as the title. As always, that’s not to say it’s bad; Avengers was a cookie cutter comic book family action film, but damn did it shine. But if you’re looking for something that really stands out amongst the crowd, this isn’t it.
World War X is your typical tale of bad guys are aliens that have been on the Earth for billions of years (War of the Worlds), that have warnings of sketched on ancient sarcophagi (Alien vs Predator), that the government are researching for their own means (Stargate). Adesh, a member of the research team going through love troubles with his soon to be ex-wife (too many films to list) tries to flag it up but is ignored (see previous) and we have the Keanu Reeves imperfect saviour.
This is my one and only complaint about World War X: nothing stands out to me and raises this above the rest. If I were looking for new comics to ad to my pre-orders, I’d pass over this after a flick through. The art is good, the writing is good, concept is solid, crazy characters are crazy, good characters are good, but none of it makes me go ‘I wonder what happens next?’ like Saga does, or The Wicked and the Divine (and that artwork is truly divine).
Naturally there are some questions left hanging otherwise this wouldn’t be worth writing about, and maybe I’m simply being too judgemental here. Maybe I’m spoilt by the titles I read and am recommended, and hell if you asked me should you read it I’d say ‘yeah, give World War X a go, it is well worth a read’. However, if you asked me if you should buy it, I’d be a little more hesitant.
World War X: Vol. 1 is out now from Titan Comics.