The Spire 1

The Spire is a mountain of metal and stone that rises out of the middle of the desert, containing a vast city of twisting tunnels, grinding elevators, ancient machinery, and is home to over a million human and non-human residents. Shå, the last of the Medusi, is responsible for keeping watch over them as Commander of the City Watch, despite the fact she isn’t shown any respect due to her race.

The Spire kicks off with the death of the old baron, and our main character, Shå chasing a couple of miscreants through the endless winding tunnels, corridors, and levels of the city.  The criminals give her the slip, but leave her a token of their esteem, a crossbow bolt in the shoulder.  Later the same dastardly duo meet a grisly fate, along with an old woman they were leaning on.  Cut back to Shå who is having a tryst with her lover Meera which gets rudely interrupted by a summons from the new Baroness.  It seems the old woman that was murdered along with ruffians was her nanny, years back.  Shå’s back is now up against the wall to find the murderer and bring them to justice.

The Spire is a great book that uses all the tricks of the trade to weave a great if not original story.  Shå is a bit of a trope, but the reader will love her anyway.  She is the surly non-conformist in a position of authority in the spire, but still not loved by the powers that be.  The artist’s rendering of Shå is great.  There are some sweeping single page spreads that really bring the character to life.  Some other characters are less well defined which was disappointing, that could hint that the book was rushed to print.  Hopefully in successive issues, we’ll see a little more consistency in the artwork.

The story itself is tightly scripted and moves well, but the reader will be incensed by a few minor details.  The end of the book feels a little unfinished beyond the normal comic book cliff hanger.  I wanted a little tighter finish for the debut issue.  Also the writer fails to do much in the way of world building or set finishing in this first book, which leaves us feeling a bit in the dark as far as the mechanics of the Spire universe.

One thing however, that was done especially well was the lettering.  It’s not the first time we’ve seen this style, but it is still a nice change of pace.  The creators use different fonts, colors and other highlights to create mood and tone in the dialogue which makes the story pop a bit more than the usual fare.  All in all, this promises to be a great series with just a few bumps in the road for the initial outing.  Snag a copy for three and make sure to keep tuned for the second issue where we hope to learn more about the killer, who is likely just getting started.

For more information about The Spire or other great offerings from BOOM! Studios, visit their website.  BOOM! Studios

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