Karnak #1 - Spoilers Are Insignificant, Just Like All Of Us

[Kuwagaton]

Well, it seems pretty indulgent. Which isn't bad at all, but I'm just not sure about the motivation so far. Not that Transmetropolitan, Blue Rose, and MK weren't awesome, but I'm wondering what else Ellis will give us.

I didn't feel like the bullet scene was well choreographed. That might sound shallow in a book that may end up vaunted for its writing, but so far I don't have the sense that this cool is penetrable.

[jackolover]

Well there is a big difference between theism and a religion based purely on philosophy.

Yes, and one based on Philosophy only is going to look down on illogical religion.

[jackolover]

Did anyone else think this issue was disjointed? It felt like the language was too clipped at times, and some of the short sentences felt stranded and unrelated to context. I haven't read a massive amount of Ellis's work but I have read a few of his series, and I don't remember thinking his language usage was unclear before.

Was this just me?

I've read it, and I didn't notice it was overly clipped. Comicbooks are clipped writing by the very nature of mixing image and word, but in Ellis' case, I couldn't notice he left things hanging. Not to say it isn't, so we'll have to keep our eyes on it.

I put the disjointedness down to being deliberate on Ellis' part, to demonstrate something strange about Karnak being the narrator of this series. Karnak may think like this, so we get inside his brain and his motivation?

[t hedge coke]

I put the disjointedness down to being deliberate on Ellis' part, to demonstrate something strange about Karnak being the narrator of this series. Karnak may think like this, so we get inside his brain and his motivation?

That would be a very Ellis thing. He's very into stories and comics taking a narrative shape that reflects their content. Very Modernist/Structuralist.

[FanboyStranger]

Blue Rose was fun, but the Lynch and Cronenberg shoutouts made it even better (and made me wish Strangehaven would finally wrap up, because I want, I want).

Milledge did a Strangehaven story for a recent A1 annual.

There's a guy who I wish would do a Kickstarter because I would give 90% of my disposable income for new Strangehaven.

[FanboyStranger]

I actually loved the ending, precisely because it wasn't a cliffhanger - not in the "how will our intrepid hero get himself out of this situation" way. It doesn't patronize the reader by pretending all is dire, only to solve the predicament painlessly first thing next issue, nor does it rely on waiting til the last minute to spring a cheap shock twist. It just says "more of this awesomeness next week, you know you want it."

If it came out next week like a 2000AD prog, I would have had more time for it. Feels like an action quota to me.

[FanboyStranger]

I also think that the ability to find flaws in things is an inherently hyper rational concept. A flaw suggests that something was specifically designed and Karnak's ability to hone in on one specific or a series of design flaws thus the "machine" breaks down in a logical manner; there is a point A to B. Love on the otherhand isn't rational. It's hard to explain and when it falls apart there can be both internal and external reasons. Or in the mind of the person who is left heartbroken it can seem completely irrational and that there was no reason. It would be a very cool character study to see Karnak grapple with something like that.

Well, the idea is out there now so someone who is a better writer than I feel free to run with it.

That's where I hope the series goes. I think that's what the family of the kidnapped inhuman suggests. Karnak will free him, demand he comes with him for education, but not quite concieve why the a boy would want to stay with his family or why that's important. (Reading a bit between the lines in Ellis' recent updates-- his daughter is going to university, and he doesn't quite know how to feel about that.)

[HUTHAIFA]

No pun intended. But Karnak is the breakout Inhuman character. Every writer should be kicking themselves for not being able to utilize all the potential that Ellis showed in one issue.

[FanboyStranger]

Did anyone else think this issue was disjointed? It felt like the language was too clipped at times, and some of the short sentences felt stranded and unrelated to context. I haven't read a massive amount of Ellis's work but I have read a few of his series, and I don't remember thinking his language usage was unclear before.

Was this just me?

The ending felt tacked on to me. The rest was supposed to feel like an awkward, uncomfortable conversation.

[Hypestyle]

Does he still have a big head? Did they at least fix that?

[KOSLOX]

No pun intended. But Karnak is the breakout Inhuman character. Every writer should be kicking themselves for not being able to utilize all the potential that Ellis showed in one issue.

I was thinking about this and I could see Karnak becoming "The Wolverine" of inhumans, in terms of popularity and eagerness to use him down the line.

[Expletive Deleted]

Does he still have a big head?

Not noticeably.

[HsssH]

Even if he senses the weakness in an opponent, that doesn't mean he's able to do something about it. He once detected a pressure point that was Hulk's weak point; Blackbolt tried to defeat Hulk punching that point, and while he made Hulk scream in pain, he wasn't strong enough to take him down. Hulk just got angrier and crushed Blackbolt.

I think you are mixing something up. From what I remember Karnak detected weak point and tried punching Hulk, but wasn't strong enough to harm him. Then Black Bolt used his "mater blow" or whatever it was called (supposedly puts all his strength in one hit that results in him getting knocked out too) and punched Hulk, both went down so it ended up kinda like a draw.

Anyway, finally got around reading it. I was disappointed. Art, while atmospheric, doesn't seam well suited for action scenes - panels with SHIELD agent getting shot by bullet weren't well executed and last scenes I thought felt cold and artificial (but that might be more due to Ellis writing). Karnak is so negative that at moments it feels like edginess for the sake of edginess. By the end of the issue I wasn't entirely sure what was the hook here? Am I supposed to care about some new Inhuman that I haven't seen yet? I don't know, it feels like the hook here is "I wonder what Ellis has planned"... which is same as it was before first issue was released. Would people be pumped up for next issue if it wasn't written by Ellis? I doubt.