Far from the auction halls of the elite, The Collector
seeks out rare and mysterious artifacts across the world. He is at home in the
salons of Paris as he is in the jungles of Borneo. Set against the backdrop of
late 19th century colonialism, The Collector is a delightful,
swashbuckling adventure!
While I may have loved comics since I was a child, I must
confess that there are a lot of gaps in my geek cred in that area. In this particular case, it may be shocking
to hardcore comic fans that I never really knew of Sergio Toppi before
now. Fortunately for me, I can now say
that I’m at least somewhat familiar with his work thanks to The Collector. Granted, I don’t know if any of his other
work has been translated into English before this one, so I may not have to
feel so bad.
This hardcover collection puts together five adventures
of the extremely determined traveler known only as The Collector. We follow along with his typically risky and
often near death experiences seeking out rare and meaningful treasures, ones
which he refuses to not acquire. As
hazardous as his travels are, he always finds a crafty, sometimes fantastical
way of getting out of trouble. In the
end, he always gets what he wants, no matter what the method.
As the foreword so strongly emphasizes, Sergio Toppi was
known above all else for his masterful artwork.
His particular style of line work is really unlike anything I’ve ever
been used to before. The way that Sean
Gordon Murphy describes it in his foreword is probably the best way it can be,
so I’ll leave it to you to read that.
The three words I would take from Murphy to sum it up: hallucinate, disorder
and pioneer. That’s Toppi in a nutshell.
These stories have been around for quite a long time, but
again have never been translated into English.
So, unless you happen to have read the originals, this is something you
definitely have to pick up now. If you
don’t do it for the wild writing or unique artwork, do it to make yourself a
better fan. Either way, you’ll be better
off having read this book in the end.
For more on The Collector HC or other Archaia titles,
check out Archaia.
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.
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