The Indy 100 #2

Title: KRUSADA
Publisher: Entity Comics, a division of Express Publications, Inc.
Creative Team: Steve V. Mateo (writer), Shelby W. Robertson (layouts/pencils), Adam Arellano (pencils), Abraham Madison (inks), Planet Maus (colors), Manny Fontz (letters, get it?), Don Chin (editor)
Date of Publication: December 1996
Issue: Killer Elite Special #1
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Superhero

Plot Overview:
We begin with some narration over a sparse but effective depiction of outer space. The narrator explains that the average number of life-sustaining planets is essentially 0, mathematically speaking. This makes life unique and precious. A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… There was D’escotia, a planet at war with itself. We get a lot of typically loopy sci-fi names of places and things, but the only two that matter are Kelendra and Xurani, the names of two warring clans that have obliterated the others. The narrator opines that war is the inevitable result of civilization. Bummer. The two clans have been warring for centuries for reasons no one now remembers. We see typical scenes of battle, which includes people in spandex, high tech weaponry, low tech weaponry, castles, and dragons

Yes, dragons.

We then find ourselves at Castle Greyskull. I mean, Granite-Keep, the Khelendran base. The 22nd Armored Dragonrider Unit has been called to meet by Kath The Young Upstart. Kath says that some festival allows her the opportunity to challenge Khai Krusada for the title of Khai. Since the title character is Khelendran, I will now assume that they are the Good Guys. Kath is whipping herself into a frenzy to fight Krusada, but Kain interjects himself into the situation. He talks about how awesome he is while standing absolutely still.

This is Kain, he is awesome. Since he is so awesome, it is he that gets to challenge Krusada. Kath backs down, cowed by Kain’s sheer awesomeness. Or creeped out by his tiny head.

We then zip over to check on the Bad Guys, the Xurani. Their fortress, merely called “the Xurani fortress,” is guarded by numerous generic guards and is much larger than the Khelendrans’. Necrona, who is obviously the main Bad Guy, argues with some Cobra Commander wannabe about attacking the Khelendrans while they are distracted by their festival. The leader doesn’t want to sink that low, so Necrona simply kills him and takes over. I’m sure Destro is nodding approvingly. Necrons then wins over the guards with an impassioned-

Holy hell! What is up with her mouth!?

Anyway, we join Krusada and Kain’s battle hours after its start. Apparently, Krusada taught Kain everything he knows about being awesome. Kain recoils in horror from her clenched fist and then yields. Out of fucking nowhere, the Xurani forces attack, decapitating a half dozen nameless Khelendran and ventilating Kain. Krusada leaps at Necrona and lops off Necrona’s hand. Necrona then calls a sudden retreat and the Xurani disappear on their dragons. Krusada then realizes that Kain is stone dead. This is the last straw for Krusada. As she growls out Necrona’s name, her face promises she will not rest until Necrona is dead and the Xurani destroyed. We then get 5 pages of pinups and some ads to wrap up.

Highlights:
This book is hilarious. Not so much for its plot, but for how it tries to bridge several popular genres. It kind of has a Masters of the Universe feel to it, but they are obviously playing up the sci-fi and spandex aspects more than the fantasy. It all seems rather more slapdash than MotU, as well. The fantasy elements could easily have been left out. The most notable fantasy element, the dragons, just seems incongruous and silly. But this is the highlights section, and the unintentional hilarity of seeing dragons in the middle of a bunch of YoungBlood rejects fighting with guns and maces can’t be beat.

KRUSADA is also fun to read as a time capsule of 90’s comics. There are ads for Zen the Intergalactic Ninja. The few ads with webpages have incredibly long URLs. This issue being the Extreme Elite Mega-Awesome Killer Murdertacular #1 with a foil cover positively screams 90’s. And check out an ad for Extreme’s back issues. It’s made up almost entirely of parodies of other comics. Hulk, Gen13, Star Trek, and the X-Force all take a beating. I’ve included it for your enjoyment. How many did you have?

Since the main character is female, men fill the supporting roles that women would in a male-driven comic. This is nowhere more evident than when Kain gets killed by Necrona only to give some pathos to the main character. But I’m sure Kain will like it in the refrigerator. There are plenty of chicks stuffed in there, after all. But Kain’s demise will get no complaints from me. The death of a loved one is a tried and true, if somewhat cliche, plot device in fiction. It is not truly a problem in and of itself. In any story with a single protagonist, all other characters exist simply to serve the protagonist’s story. They die, they live, they learn, they teach, they love, they hate. And none is more important to the protagonist than the one they love, who is, typically, of the opposite sex. Saying that female supporting characters are killed more often than male characters is, to me, the same as saying that there are not enough female leads getting their male supporting cast killed.

Lowlights:
The art in KRUSADA is at, approximately, the same level as that in my copy of GURPS Supers. In fact, I would have to give the nod to GURPS when comparing them. I mentioned that KRUSADA was a time capsule of the 90’s, but when it comes to the art, that’s more a curse than a blessing. Big guns, big tits, small heads, it’s all there. While not the worst I’ve seen, KRUSADA’s art peaks at adequate and is more often awkward. The art team seems to have split up the art chores thusly: one would draw the figures and faces, the other would draw the mouths. Mouths are certainly this art team’s Liefeld’s heel, and they often resort to characters wearing full-face masks to avoid the issue. Given Necrona’s creepmouth, I think it’s a good choice. Characters are often stiffly posed. Ironically, the perspective and proportions of the posed shots are worse than the action shots, possibly pointing out another division of the work by the artists. And finally, the pages contain few panels and lots of splashes. Now, I’m not one to complain about decompression, but when the splash pages are used to show characters standing still and no action whatsoever, even I get bored.

The plot is just boring, as well. I don’t care about the war. I don’t care about Kain. I care even less about Kath, who will probably ends up as Krusada’s plucky sidekick/rival. Not enough happens in the issue to bring me in. The narration is quasi-philosophical and pretentious. It makes a good point with the “the average number of life-supporting planets is 0″ bit, but its little rant on the inevitability of war just comes off as preachy. I have no desire to read the Killer Elite #2.

Enjoyment rating (out of 5): 2.5
Mid-90’s nostalgia brings this a half-point above shot callerz, but it still wasn’t that great. Though, it does prove that ho-hum superhero books are not the sole province of the Big Two.

Next: The Marquis: Danse Macabre #1