Each of the five universes featured in this new Australian comics cross-over have been amalgamated into a new super universe by the a godling who has lost patience with the way things work and has decided to improve them... his way! Unfortunately, our previously familiar heroes have been transformed and merged into altogether new heroes! Watch as Lightning Force, Mythicman, Jager, ChickenMan, Billy: Demon Slayer and many other Australian comic characters are launched into a new age where they must work together to defeat the evil forces of Mr. Kismet!
An immortal man decides to see what living life as a mortal would be like. But unfortunately for Mr Kismet, nothing goes according to plan, and he is forced to live out the next few centuries on Earth. He decides he must do something to pass the time, but unfortunately for him, his grand scheme is thwarted by someone who has just realised he has electricial powers. In the next part of the story, Kismet is still angry about Lightning Force, the new superhero who keeps defeating Kismet's plans to regain his godhood or rule the world. In the end, he realises that if he simply eliminated Lightning Force from existence, he would be allowed to carry out his plan. The Retroactivator has caught wind of Kismet's plans, and intends to stop him from disturbing the natural order of things. Naturally, Kismet isn't too happy with this new turn of events, so he convinces the Retroactivator to merge the universes together so they'll have an easier time keeping an eye on things. After the various familiar universes have been merged together, our heroes have changed into new heroes.
The story is wild, and there's a lot of constant action happening on each page, so you're quickly whisked through the basics of the cross-over. This issue also introduces the main characters for the rest of the mini-series so you have an idea of who the heroes are, and what they are capable of. Tony Newton came up with the concept, and more Australian creators have joined to help out with this mega cross-over. There's a light-hearted vibe throughout the story, and it feels like the writers have had a lot of fun messing around with their own creations. I enjoyed seeing really wacky things happening to the characters as a result of the universes merging together.
The artwork was done by different people throughout the issue for each part. It ranges from a light-hearted cartoon style to a wilder, more extreme style of drawing. The lettering was inconsistent throughout the entire issue, given that it was split up in several different stories drawn by different artists but all the stories tie in together to form a large picture of what's going on in this cross-over. Occasionally, the lettering was hand-written and often too hard for me to make out. It would be easier to read if it was lettered in a consistent and clearer style. Other than anthologies, the only other time I had the chance to see various art styles in one issue was this independent cross-over, and I enjoyed seeing different interpretations of the same characters.
I'm interested in seeing how this cross-over is going to conclude. While the concept might not be an entirely original one, there's still a lot to be enjoyed in this mini-series, especially finding out how the characters are going to tackle their universal problem. Five different Australian comic companies - Foolproof & fictionym Comics, Nimbin Studios, Siberian Productions, STaB Comics & Storm Publication have teamed up to create the first Australian independent comic crossover event - OzSlaught. More information about this event can be found at the OzSlaught official website - http://members.optusnet.com.au/ozslaught/ which has character information as well as a profile on each creator involved. |
