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HYBRID BASTARDS 1 & 2 

Archaia Studios

Writer Tom Pinchuk

Artist Kate Glasheen

$3.50 US

Having interviewed Kate and Tom here at CBO,I hope everyone knows the story? No? Oh well.

In a nut-shell:the God Zeus is known as a womaniser –having his “way” with any mortal woman he takes a fancy to.  However,18 years ago,Hera ,being really ticked off by all this,cast a spell so that the big guy could only fall in love with..inanimate objects [I think there’s a web site for that type of thing somewhere!].  Now,of course, these titular “hyrbid bastards” have all reached adulthood and are collected together by Panos,apparently sired by Zeus to get revenge upon Zeus. The group is made up of,and please do not check your prescription drugs here: a half-car, a half-apple, a half-brick wall and a half-pile of dirty laundry. 

The rest you’ll have to buy the books to find out about!

I was very surprised to have read Brian Cronin over at CBR being rather enthusiastic about the plot to HB and Tom’s “high concept” but slating Kate Glasheen’s artwork and writes:

“Glasheen’s artwork, while decent enough for most of the book, falls apart quite a bit when the actual hybrid bastards themselves are introduced!

Her art it is definitely interesting to look at, there’s no doubt about that. As strictly an artist, she is great, but the sequential art falls down for me. Especially as her watercolor style quite often causes objects in the foreground to bleed together with objects in the background, which is deathly when you’re dealing with characters as bizarre as these…”

Ahh,the problems with critics!  I wonder whether Cronin is an artist himself or just a reviewer?  I really did not have or see the problem Cronin describes.  I’m wondering whether in his haste to be critical he just scanned through the book?  Initially,my thought was “what’s this?” when I saw the artwork but having an artist’s eye [rather than Van Gogh’s Ear] I could appreciate the unique look of the art and its stylistic use of colour.

In fact,in issue 2 to art seems to have developed more and rather than a two minute Marvel or DC comics read,HB,through Kate’s art,makes you read the story and then study the images and it is when you do this that you can appreciate things more.

I’ll hold my hands up here –I have two original pieces of Glasheen artwork and they look even better than the printed pieces!

There was only one thing I think distracted from the art –the word balloons.  However,looking at the books again as I write this,I’m not sure why I originally thought this!

According to Kate all three issues will be going into a collected edition this Summer and re-scanning should make the art crisper and,whereas Croning could not recommend Hybrid Bastards,I fully recommend it!

Don’t have the closed eyes of the Mainstream comic geek –look at how other styles are being used to revitalise the look of comics.  There are many great artists out there like Kate who do not “draw the Marvel way” and if it were not for them the industry would be just pap.  Samey.  Boring.

I say this never having received a bribe.  Image Comics,Graphic Classics and a few others are opening up to new and innovative creators.  You don’t like it then stick with the X-Men or Batman.  There are those of us out there who appreciate style.

Highly recommended.