Xeno's Arrow #1 (1993)

Posted: Tuesday, April 23, 2002
By: Darren Schroeder

Cover of Xeno's Arrow #1 (1993) Creator(s): Greg Beettam and Stephen Geigen-Miller
Publishers: Cup O' Tea Studios 0 Self Published
From: Canada
Price: $2:00 (Canada)

If you haven't picked up a copy of this book in either this, its original appearance, or the more recent reprints then you are an idiot. This is great example of comic book storytelling in every respect. The writing is top notch as we follow the adventures of Xeno, sole survivor of an unknown race who is raised in an intergalactic zoo. He finds that his happy life is in fact incarceration.

The book has the tone of a child's book in that everything seems uncomplicated and benign at first, but as things progress things get darker. There is some delightful character design on show here with a nice range of creatures. Backgrounds and the layouts are kept quite simple, though there is still a lot of thought evident in the artwork with impressive shadowing and a few other nice touches. Mention must also be made of the lettering, with each character having its own font. The paranoid Mister Z'nydnhas a very erratic script which wonderfully articulates his bizarre manner.

In a Word: Brilliant.



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