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When Kate Glasheen got in touch and said the collected Hybrid Bastards book was now available for pre-order how could I refuse to look it over? But I know a few people asked me why the series suddenly vanished?  I asked Kate who gave me the full run down on the book,cost,etc.,and printing history. 

Here goes –over to Kate:

“Well, the book has had a complicated past so I’ll give you the breakdown, but in the short and sweet variety…

Back in late 2007, Archaia Studios Press published issues 1 and then 2 in early 2008 (of 3). Then they lost a business partner and went through a restructuring process to find a new partner. During the restructuring they stopped all printing. Upon remedying the situation some months later, they decided all creators under their old contract would have the rest of their single issues negated due to the delay, and would instead only have their trades printed. They started doing cons and printing again a few months ago, with SDCC [San Diego Comic Con] as their big “we’re back”. ASP is now known just as Archaia, so same publisher, slightly different name, slightly different ownership.

Here are the specs:

retail price: $17.95…$12.71 pre-order price through amazon.

# Hardcover: 96 pages

# Publisher: Archaia

# Language: English

# ISBN-10: 1932386505

# ISBN-13: 978-1932386509

# Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 6.8 x 0.8 inches

# Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds

I’m told it’s to be released in November, but I’m noticing Amazon says late December. Can’t say for sure which is true-er-ish…

Okay that was a little longer than intended, but hopefully that answers your questions…if not, let me know!”

Now,you SAVE money if you pre-order which aint bad and,without referring to my original reviews,I wanted to see if I’d like the complete series in one book,or even the art anymore!

For those unfamiliar with what HB is about: 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.

From the,uh,”birth” at the very start to the introduction to the HBs and their attempts to embarrass Zeus and his attempts to,uh,well,destroy them,this is a fun book. But there is something more that I really like.  The art.

Initially,in issues 1 and 2 the art looks okay but seems almost a tad nervous –as though Kate might have wondered whether it would work.  I doubt that she really had any concerns,though,more likely part of the learning process and since I cherish an original page [as I keep telling everyone!] you can guess it made no difference to me! But the following issues the art really hits the eye.  No solid blacks or thick black lines but some really clever designs,uses of wash and much more:far more confident!

It is true that you probably ain’t going to see Kate illustrate a Marvel super hero comic [no,I’m not taking bets on that] but this is what is so great about Independent comics today,and since Kate has been rejected by NASA [see the CBO interview] she had to find something to do. 

Kate has a style that even ten years ago might not have made it through an Indie publishers submissions pile.  That is just too awful to think about.  Kate has a unique style that I still find things in to go “ooh” or “that is a great design in that panel”.

I love the simplicity and use of minimal colour as on page 16. Nothing is gaudy and the colouring shows that there is someone with a good eye [or two] for colour behind this.  The talking busts on page 20.  The Grecian wall art style used for flashbacks such as page 27.   PAGE 37!!!  Page 44…love it!  54,64 and 73 have some cool designs.  And this all helps the interactions between the HBs work even better.

I’m getting very angry here about the fact that publishers tend to ignore unique art talents like Kate’s [hey –I can get angry about whatever I want!].

In short,I would highly recommend Hybrid Bastards:read through it,put it down and read it again a few days later –you’ll notice things you missed before.  I think that the comic industry is much richer for creators like Kate:I’ve tried to think of anyone similar in style but failed –the last artist I know of who broke the mold with painting was Bill Sienkiewicz back in the 1980s.

I’m very glad that Katie contacted me initially as issue 1 came out because HB has been a joy and well worth waiting for a full book [with a few pieces of fan art at the back].  And I must not forget Tom Pinchuk who wrote the series and decided Kate was the artist to work on the book.

I’ll give this 23 out of 10 –because I can!   Buy a copy.

Kate Glasheen’s CBO interview is here:

http://www.comicbitsonline.com/2007/09/09/859/

Tom Pinchuk’s CBO interview is here:

http://www.comicbitsonline.com/2007/09/24/tom-pinchuk-on-hybrid-bastards/

My original CBO review of Hybrid Bastards #s 1 & 2 is here:

http://www.comicbitsonline.com/2008/05/03/archaia-studios-2/

Kate’s web site is here:

http://www.katiecrimespree.com/home.html

Pre-order Hybrid Bastards here:http://www.amazon.com/Hybrid-Bastards-Tom-Pinchuk/dp/1932386505/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252331175&sr=8-1