Wrath of the Titans #1 Review

Wrath of the Titans

Writer:s

Darren G. Davis and Scott Davis

Artist:

Nadir Balan

Publisher:

Bluewater Productions

Content:

Wrath of the Titans contains violence and some gore. It is a teen rated book.

Introduction:

This is the first in Bluewater Productions Ray Harryhausen Presents line of comic books. These comics return to the worlds that film legend Ray Harryhausen helped create such as Clash of the Titans, Jason and the Argonauts, Sinbad, and others. Wrath of the Titans continues the story of Perseus, child of Zeus, who is the king of the Grecian gods.

Story:

This is the opening storyarc about the birth of Perseus’ child, and the ramifications that it causes. Zeus, the king of the gods, decrees that the child will become ruler of the mortals and that the rest of the pantheon needs to pay tribute. Hera, the evil queen of the gods fears that such chosen child could eventually rule the rest of the heavens as well and works to destroy Perseus, his wife Andromeda, and their soon to be born child.

Review:

I am a huge fan of the original Clash of the Titans film. Growing up, Ray Harryhausen’s films were definitely ones that I gravitated towards, before I found the world of comic books. Tom Hanks has been quoted as saying at an awards banquet about Harryhausen, "Some people say Casablanca or Citizen Kane is the greatest film of all time. I say Jason and the Argonauts." For me, my favorite film of Harryhausen was Clash of the Titans. That being said, I knew this comic was going to come under a large amount of scrutiny.

Overall, I am impressed with the first outing from this series. There was a good mix of action, dialog, and intrigue, setting things up for future issues. It was good to see these characters of my youth represented faithfully into the comic book form.

The art was really nice, and fit in well with the world that we see in the original Clash of the Titans film. I’ve heard that the character design of Perseus has a resemblance to actor Harry Hamlin, who played Perseus in the film, but doesn’t go so much as to directly copy him. It’s more of an homage, and does a great job of it.

My critiques of the comic are a bit nitpicky, but I worry that if they aren’t addressed, they could be turnoffs for me. There was small running line in the comic about the sex of Perseus’ child where Perseus claims that his child will be a prince and Andromeda says, “or princess.” This line is replayed with Perseus’ mother, which I felt to be a bit cheesy. Luckily it only comes twice, because if it came a third time, I’d have been a little put off.

There was another sequencing break that threw me, which was in between where Perseus’ mother meets Andromeda and goes to the birth of the child with little to no explanation of time passing. It threw me a little and took me some time to find out that time had actually passed. A simple narrator box of “Meanwhile….” or “Later…” would have helped I think. That being said this comic could be a great addition to the world of the Titans. Many of the original characters are there and it will be great to see the other characters established in the film make their way into the comics.

Conclusion:

If you’re like me and really liked Clash of the Titans, or other parts of Ray Harryhausen’s work, or are a fantasy buff, then you will definitely want to check this series out. It has a strong start that could grow into a great series. For me it will be even better without cheesy lines, but that’ just me.