Supreme: Blue Rose

Supreme: Blue Rose 1-5

I strongly disliked this the first time I read it.  It was Warren Ellis at his weirdest, and it might have been around here (along with James Bond, Injection, and Trees) that he stopped being a must-buy for me.  (I quit buying this not knowing how many more issues there were.  Turns out there were two.) I came into the reread fully expecting to cut it afterwards.

It’s no longer getting cut, the art by Tula Lotay is far too beautiful for that, and the story makes just a little bit more sense.  But it’s still too weird to be good. But this story about parallel universes and those struggling to make sense of this ‘revision’ is intriguing enough that I just took a break to read the last issue that I found posted online.  And that’s satisfying enough that I’m strongly tempted to buy the last two issues right now....Hmm. After shipping, buying them would cost as much as getting the whole trade from Amazon. Putting that on hold for now.

Anyway, the madness all makes sense after reading the ending.  Also, there are a couple of things that really stood out:

Lotay’s work is ethereal with a hint of Mike Allred eyes.  Her depiction of Zayla Zara is absolutely arresting:

I love his turn of phrase at the end: "I would not want to have been without her face in my mind."

Allred.  They both draw heavily lined eyes with striking irises.

Her colors greatly remind me of the video game Gris, which I just finished playing (highly recommend!):

I don’t know what’s up with the Professor Night comic within the comic, but it bears a striking resemblance to Penny Arcade’s purposefully nonsensical Twisp and Catsby:

Blue Rose is haunting me far more than I would have imagined.  I think I really am going to buy the trade. What a startling turn of events this is.  Puzzlement.

Regret buying: No

Would buy again: Yes

Would read again: Yes

Rating: Pretty good