The Tower Files: The Tower Chronicles #1 Review
The Tower Chronicles, written by Matt Wagner with art by Simon Bisley, is currently on tap to be a three-volume story of four chapters a piece. That means a few things, one of them being that it will likely be an extended period of time before Wagner can put in any concrete work on Mage: The Hero Denied. That’s a problem.
Another thing it means is that, barring cancellation – and considering The Tower Chronicles’s publisher, Legendary Comics, is a relatively new imprint with only Frank Miller’s Holy Terror under its belt so far, that seems pretty unlikely if they want to hold onto the A-List talent they’ve lured to the stable – we’re going to be living with this title for quite a while; with one chapter every two months, this is gonna be a two-year story. Further, on top of the time investment, at eight bucks a whack, you’re looking at a $96 dollar comic story if you decide to take the whole ride from the beginning, as opposed to waiting for the trades, which will almost inevitably be less expensive.
So the question is: is The Tower Chronicles worth the time and cost to jump in this week on the ground floor? Well, that depends on what you already have on your bookshelf.
Meet John Tower: Senator from Texas and head of the commission that investigated Contragate. Whoops! Wrong John Tower. Let’s try that again.
Meet John Tower: paranormal investigator and monster hunter, available for hire via his Web site, Geisthawk (Don’t bother; not only does the Web site not exist, but as of this writing, the name has only been bought in one obscure top level domain. Hop to, cybersquatters!). His prices are high, his client selection process is rigorous, and based on the giant scar on his face, his job kinda sucks. He’s who you call if you have a, shall we say, otherworldly problem. Embezzling ghost? No problem. Child vampire cutting a bloody swath through the Midwest? Easy. Wife possessed by an owl? Gotcha. Crappy Web designer who names your Web site something you couldn’t find even accidentally while surfing for porn? Yeah, he’s apparently powerless.
Regardless, FBI agent Alicia Hardwicke is on the trail of the Piranha Killer, who is taking people out at a rapid clip, leaving behind chewed bones and DNA with no human chromosomes. She is desperate for a lead… desperate enough to seek help from a paranormal investigator, or at least one competent enough to see the badge and yet not start asking, “Does the letter ‘J’ mean anything to you? How about the name ‘Edgar?’ Do you know any transvestites?” So she seeks Tower’s help, putting her on a road where she will inevitably see things she didn’t think possible, and undoubtedly find herself being boned by Tower around chapter three of book two.
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