Chronicles of Hate

Chronicles of Hate takes on a grand sense of scale and scope from page one. The opening prologue introduces readers to the world that Adrian Smith, writer and artist of Chronicles, has so lovingly created. A world marked by oppression and violence due to the capture and torture of Mother, the physical manifestation of our idea of Mother Earth, seeks an unlikely hero in character of Worm. A disfigured, tiny, almost-human creature, Worm serves beings far more powerful and larger than he, who all serve one ruler known simply as Tyrant. Tyrant nearly has the world on its knees, begging for his mercy, and yet he still seeks to claim the rest of the land through total war.

To an extent, Chronicles pulls readers into this fantastically unique world, largely because of the phenomenal art style that Smith brings to the page. Each panel feels as if it was pulled out of a hazy nightmare, aimed to disturb you, the reader. Even the character of Worm, the protagonist, is frightening to look at. But the unsettling character design engrossed me, and the sheer attention to detail in each monster and inhuman creature lifted the world out of the pages. The subtleties throughout these pages – vague resemblances to human-like features, the crisp, clear presentation of a scene contrasted with blurry and haunting shapes in other panels – all place readers into the world of Chronicles. It makes us believe that even in a world of utter destruction, depravity, and unrecognizable life, the battle between good and evil still exists, heroes can still rise, and we can always find these heroes in the unlikeliest of places.

In its execution in other areas, however, Chronicles goes through some missteps. Deliberately light on the text, Chronicles relies heavily on its imagery to impart crucial plot information and to set its pacing and tone. Unfortunately, due to the sometimes-abstract nature of the art style, ambiguity creeps in while reading the book, which caused me to constantly refer back to earlier pages to see if I had missed any information beforehand. Smith asks readers to devote complete and utter attention to the world he has created, which is understandable. I want to sink my teeth into this world, and I want to see Worm’s adventures unfold. That can be hard to accomplish when adjusting to a new art style, however.

Still, as a whole, Chronicles of Hate stands as a unique vision of a world torn apart. The artistic scope of this series is massive, and I would love to come back to each release just to see more of this art style come alive. Though I was confused for some of the read, I was also thoroughly engaged as my mind tried to envision the environment that contained Worm and his party. This world is so disgustingly beautiful that you owe it to yourself to give Chronicles of Hate at least a glance, and maybe a few midnight terrors as a result.

You can find Chronicles of Hate and other comics over at the Top Cow website

Photo Credit to Top Cow Comics

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.