The Thirty Six, Vol. 1
Every once in a while, Ambush Bug shares some independently created graphic storytelling gems that can be as invigorating as a clean spring breeze after the stale, musty air of too many Marvels, DCs or Images. One such bright spot is the mystical adventure series THE THIRTY SIX.At the core of the series is a familiar theme. A group of individuals, blessed (or cursed) by special abilities, are drawn together in a time of trouble (by chance or by fate depending on your opinion) in order that they might join together to save the world from evil. Ringing any bells? It s your standard Hero s Journey; the same thread runs through such classics as the myth of Jason and the Argonauts, the legend of King Arthur, Tolkien s Lord of the Rings and, of course, the Star Wars trilogy. Now, I don t want you to think that I m belittling THE THIRTY SIX by making it just another in a long line of similarly-themed works--in fact, the great thing about this comic following such an established, mythic path is that the core simplicity of the theme allows for a wide variety of creative embellishments. I've seen versions of this story set in the mythology of the Greeks and the Romans, in the stories of the Norse gods, in a galaxy far, far away or even in a school for wizardry and witchcraft, but this is the first time I've seen the theme played out using the legends of Kabbalah, the mystical branch of the Jewish faith. Aside from the story of the Golem--a creature of living clay that can be created by a rabbi, which featured heavily in the first two issues of the series--I ve never seen Jewish folklore utilized in comics before as a storytelling framework. This alone makes the series stand out from the crowd, but it s not the only aspect that makes the comic worth reading.What THE THIRTY SIX really has going for it is writer Kristopher White s decision to make the assembling of the thirty-six gifted individuals not a prologue to the plot (as it tends to be in the above-mentioned classics), but the driving force of the series. Even more interesting is that the destiny binding these thirty-six people together in no way guarantees that they ll get along all hugs-and-kisses. This issue finds Noam, the current bearer of the Staff of Moses, attacked by the man who carried the Staff before him a man who, along with his allies, also belongs to the titular group. I love the idea that though all these people are chosen to band together to save the world, they don t share the same view on how to go about saving it.I have to admit that I'm not as sold on the artistic end of the series. George Zapata has a good grasp of page composition and pacing, but his drawing style doesn't quite gel for me. His heavy, fairly loose linework combined with the simplified figures and backgrounds sometimes gives the panels a muddiness that makes it difficult to discern what the action exactly is. For the most part, the artwork gets the job done in telling the story, but I would love to see Zapata experiment with some variance in his line weight, and maybe use some finer, less scratchy lines to add a little more detail to his backgrounds and facial expressions. With these slight adjustments, I feel that the visual end of THE THIRTY SIX would be elevated to a level that would better complement the writing.This issue has me hanging on to find out what happens next--not just in a resolution to the cliffhanger ending, but further down the road as the comic grows and unfolds into what I hope will be a long and successful series. The Hero s Journey is a familiar tale; THE THIRTY SIX encourages the reader to breathe deep of that fresh springtime air and experience the Journey anew. --Ain't It Cool NewsHave you ever read the Hebrew Scriptures and wondered why all those cool things that happened to the ancient Israelites don t seem to happen today? Why can t we part water like Moses did on the Red Sea? Why can t the earth swallow up the unrighteous like it did Dathan in the book of Numbers? What if there was a Leviathan looming in the deep of the sea?Many people ask these questions and use them to distinguish the Hebrew Scriptures from other holy scriptures. In the first century, a Christian named Marcion wanted to do away with the Old Testament because he felt it described a God that was distinctly different from the God of Jesus. People say the same thing today about any of the Christian Scriptures and the lack of perceived fantastic miracles in contemporary culture. The Hebrew Scriptures contain all kinds of wondrous and fantastic things that are done on behalf of the people of Israel in their history. In fact, we have lost a sense of the mythological and mystical accounts found in the Hebrew Scriptures. If you look at some of the traditional Jewish myths, they read much like a comic book: monstrous mud-men, mystical staffs, evil cabals of super-powered villains, a group of protectors of the earth, and humungous sea creatures.It s that mythology that Kristopher White uses to create the fantastic world of The Thirty-Six, a new independent graphic novel.Here is the description from the book itself:The Kabbalists say that there are 36 people in the world upon whom it is saved by their simple existence. In times of need, these people emerge from anonymity to save us. They are, in essence, guards of humanity.Take the Old Testament, the television shows Lost and Heroes, and a comic like the X-Men, put them in a blender, crank that baby up to high, and out pours The Thirty-Six. It s no wonder where White gets his inspiration from, as he was a producer of the official Lost podcast.The story centers on the character of Noam and his brother Levi. Noam is the current wielder of the mystical staff of Moses, and one of the thirty-six super-powered protectors of the earth. Noam is down-to-earth despite the fact that he bears this incredible artifact. Because of the gift of this staff, Noam finds himself thrust into several adventures. This is no origin story, however, as White thrusts the readers into the middle of Noam s adventures, having him rescue a woman named Lenore from a Golem, and later become involved in a power-struggle between other thirty-sixers who have abused their power in favor of wanting to recall the ancient sea monster Leviathan.White s storytelling is done in the Lost style, with his characters having deep back stories that we only get hints at viewing. If this was an ongoing series, one would expect that White would have a wealth of stories to tell about these individuals and how they discovered their respective gifts. White is also great at delivering a cliff-hanger ending that keeps you wanting the next chapter. In fact, he leaves the end of the book wide open for more stories as Noam and his friends are called upon to investigate even more mysteries of Scripture. --ComicAttack.netHave you ever read the Hebrew Scriptures and wondered why all those cool things that happened to the ancient Israelites don't seem to happen today? Why can t we part water like Moses did on the Red Sea? Why can t the earth swallow up the unrighteous like it did Dathan in the book of Numbers? What if there was a Leviathan looming in the deep of the sea?Many people ask these questions and use them to distinguish the Hebrew Scriptures from other holy scriptures. In the first century, a Christian named Marcion wanted to do away with the Old Testament because he felt it described a God that was distinctly different from the God of Jesus. People say the same thing today about any of the Christian Scriptures and the lack of perceived fantastic miracles in contemporary culture. The Hebrew Scriptures contain all kinds of wondrous and fantastic things that are done on behalf of the people of Israel in their history. In fact, we have lost a sense of the mythological and mystical accounts found in the Hebrew Scriptures. If you look at some of the traditional Jewish myths, they read much like a comic book: monstrous mud-men, mystical staffs, evil cabals of super-powered villains, a group of protectors of the earth, and humungous sea creatures.It's that mythology that Kristopher White uses to create the fantastic world of The Thirty-Six, a new independent graphic novel available on Graphic.ly.Here is the description from the book itself:The Kabbalists say that there are 36 people in the world upon whom it is saved by their simple existence. In times of need, these people emerge from anonymity to save us. They are, in essence, guards of humanity.Take the Old Testament, the television shows Lost and Heroes, and a comic like the X-Men, put them in a blender, crank that baby up to high, and out pours The Thirty-Six. It's no wonder where White gets his inspiration from, as he was a producer of the official Lost podcast.The story centers on the character of Noam and his brother Levi. Noam is the current wielder of the mystical staff of Moses, and one of the thirty-six super-powered protectors of the earth. Noam is down-to-earth despite the fact that he bears this incredible artifact. Because of the gift of this staff, Noam finds himself thrust into several adventures. This is no origin story, however, as White thrusts the readers into the middle of Noam s adventures, having him rescue a woman named Lenore from a Golem, and later become involved in a power-struggle between other thirty-sixers who have abused their power in favor of wanting to recall the ancient sea monster Leviathan.White's storytelling is done in the Lost style, with his characters having deep back stories that we only get hints at viewing. If this was an ongoing series, one would expect that White would have a wealth of stories to tell about these individuals and how they discovered their respective gifts. White is also great at delivering a cliff-hanger ending that keeps you wanting the next chapter. In fact, he leaves the end of the book wide open for more stories as Noam and his friends are called upon to investigate even more mysteries of Scripture. --Comicattack.net