Rock the vote!

[Captain Comics]

Rock the Vote!

Top Cow wants you to pick which Pilot Season book continues

Nov. 17, 2010 -- Top Cow is pretty serious about its 'Pilot Season' project, where it publishes different new comics and lets the readers pick which ones will continue. So serious, in fact, that they have let me post all five of 2010's Pilot Season books online -- for free.

That's right, you can read 7 Days From Hell, 39 Seconds, Asset, Crosshair and Forever for free, free, free right here on the site. Then, if you've a mind, vote for the one you like best. And you're not limited to a single vote. As they say in Chicago, "vote early, vote often." And you can do it RIGHT HERE.

Here are the books, located conveniently in our Comics News section:

• 7 DAYS FROM HELL
• 39 SECONDS
• ASSET
• CROSSHAIR
• FOREVER

And for the complete explanation, here's the Top Cow press release. Don't delay, as voting ends Nov. 30 -- and that's when I have to take the comics down.

[Newsboy]

Who is this Captain Comics person, and why is he encroaching on my turf?

[Captain Comics]

Shut up, you.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

It's finally happened. Cap's snapped and is talking to himself.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

That being said, I'll read these issues in the near future.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Okey dokey. I read 7 Days from Hell and was impressed. Great concept, good art. I'd like to see more.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Didn't like 39 Minutes*. The art was mediocre, I don't care for anybody in the story, and the set-up didn't hold my interest.

*It is 39 Minutes, not 39 Seconds.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

I liked Crosshair a lot. Not as much as 7 Days from Hell but a lot more than 39 Minutes. It's a thriller that brings to mind some of the books I like to listen to. Good art, too.

[Luke Blanchard]

I don't usually read action thrillers, so it's interesting to hear your takes, Cav. Your comments spurred me to read through the items. I’ve put the ones you haven’t reviewed yet last.

7 Days from Hell: I found the action brutal. I've a feeling I should be able to name the actors the two leads were modelled after. The demon lady is really superbly depicted, with as much personality as an actress would bring to the part.

39 Minutes: I mostly read the stories without enlarging the art, and I had to enlarge that of this one to get what you didn’t like about it. I found the tale less of a fantasy story than the others, which I thought a strength. It’s another brutal story, but in stands apart from the others in that in it the violence is almost entirely committed by the bad guys, and they mostly get away with it.

Crossfire: I suspect this one was inspired by the Jason Bourne movies, which I haven’t seen. (I did see the Richard Chamberlain mini way back when.) I like premises involving a collision between identities, so I found that aspect of the comic very appealing. But I’m not sure it’s what the story’s supposed to be about. I didn’t like the mall sequence as it made the protagonist look like a super-terrorist. I couldn’t make head or tail out of what the manipulating character was up to.

Forever: I found this one the odd man out of the group, less of an action thriller and more of a horror story. I thought the art stylish and suited to the material, and the concluding imagery, with the gang walking away in those masks, really striking.

Asset: The comic’s sexual manipulation plot is a type of story that isn’t interesting to me, and it didn’t win me over.

[Jason Marconnet (Pint sized mod)]

So far I've only read 7 Days from Hell and 39 Minutes. I think I liked 7 Days from Hell the best but didn't love it. Interesting concept but it didn't pull me in totally. 39 Minutes felt kind of choppy until the end when you see how it all comes together but it wasn't enough to make me pursue it further.

[Cavaliere (moderator emeritus)]

Read the final two.

I hated Forever. It took way too long to move on to the surprise--which didn't surprise me. Saw it coming a mile off. All the stuff leading up to that point was dull. The art was so-so at best. I have no interest in reading more.

Unlike Luke, I thought The Asset's sexual manipulation was intriguing and dynamic. I was hooked on page one. The art was terrific, the plot was thrilling, and the characters believable.


So which of the five would I vote for? Well, I would vote for The Asset except that Top Cow's website says that the polls are closed. The press release said you could vote until November 30 but that seems to be untrue.