Crossed Volume 1

Very Entertaining! The story is great but the characterisations and expressive artwork are brilliant. Written by Garth Ennis and drawn by Jacen Burrows - an awesome collaboration (almost) equaling the writer and artist team of Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.**Polite warning. This book contains lots of violence and some.. generally pretty sick s**t, TBH.** Very imaginative but very in your face.

Crossed is a fantastic read.... However, I did find myself a little down after reading it. It shows a world that is ravaged by a virus that brings out the worst human traits, whilst following a group of survivors trying to survive in a savage and brutal alternate reality.As a fan of the walking dead I thought this would strike a similar note with me. But in fact, it's a much harsher and at times, more believable reality. You feel like the characters really do have no chance of survival.Read at your own risk!

There is so much zombie stuff round now it gets kind of boring. But this is Garth Ennis,one of my favourite writers and his take is something else entirely. The Crossed in question are people infected with some type of virus that is never defined but is similar to the rage virus in 28 days later. The Crossed are by far the most intelligent and disturbing zombies I've encountered in fiction. They don't just kill and eat the corpses but commit rape and brutal acts that will be too much for a lot of readers. Despite this, I found Crossed compelling and not a post apocalyptic story without hope.

This is Garth Ennis' take on the survival horror genre and it is a real tour de force. All over the world people are degenerating into brutal, sadistic, psychopaths and turning on their fellow human beings. Each of them is marked with a cross-like scar (hence the title) on their faces, possibly as a judgement from God or perhaps as an echo back to the mediaeval sign for plague. These aren't shambling mindless zombies. They are intelligent, sneaky, tactical and co-operative. They can talk, use tools, guns, vehicles and tanks! This really is the stuff of nightmares.Initially when I browsed through this what struck me was the art. The graphic depictions of violence, death, dismemberment and sexual nastiness. It looks like torture-porn in comic book form and it was easy to dismiss this as simply a gratuitous excuse for Mr Ennis to push his envelope as far as possible. But it isn't. You need that intense visceral shock to set the scene and break you out of that zombie cliché mindset.Like all good fiction of this genre it is about what the survivors do and what they learn about themselves. How much of their humanity are they willing to sacrifice just to stay alive? How much would you? As the story progresses it is less and less about the shock and awe atrocities of the crossed and more about us and how we behave. The crossed are simply ourselves without any inhibitions and that is truly frightening.Whilst the art is sickening in places it is expertly drawn by Jacen Burrows who worked with Mr Ennis to great effect on 303. He has an incredible gift for colour and lighting. The opening issues are a real treat in this respect. As the story progresses the pallet becomes dull and subdued however. This could be to reflect the survivors' despair and isolation or a realistic portrayal of the wilderness setting but there is an incredible midnight snow scene that really leaps out at you.It is well written and there is usual moral message found in this genre that we are worse than them. In this tale we are them so there can be no doubt on this score. There are some great shocks, surprises and reveals and Mr Ennis really keeps you on your toes. The story is part contemporary and part flashback but there is no indication of the switch between the two. Just count the number of survivors and the more there are the further back in time you are so you can easily follow along.Whilst it does not have the depth that his magnum opus Preacher did this is easily his best stand alone work. It is 10 issues (not the usual 6) and that really makes a difference to the pacing and breadth of this story and you really don't want it to end. Thumbs Up!

Having just finished book one I thought this needed some balance to the poor reviews. Having left the works of comics behind some time ago sure to pure boredom with the inept scripts, rehashed americanisms and lack if visceral impact it was only through rediscovering the wonderful Deadworld (original) stores that I delved back in.This us brutal stuff, no punches pulled...and sadly honest in it's slightly filmic view of human nature. The pitching it's pitch perfect, the characters not given too much time to get boring, and the violence truly gut wrenching.Be warned, s some of the other reviewers have demonstrated, this requires an open and liberal mind to be appreciated. It is about pragmatic survival in the face of human nature at it's very worst.For those of you who know what I'm taking about....enjoy!

It seems crossed is a pretty divisive title. I'm a big fan of The Boys, Y: The Last Man and The Walking Dead, so thought I'd give another Ennis/Apocalypse titles a go.Thoroughly enjoyed volume 1.Can easily see why people thinks it goes too far. Children are not spared, and there is plenty of graphic and out there violence.Ordered the next 2 volumes so looking forward to see how it goes.

I didnt expect much, and was rewarded for it, the writing is suprisingly mature (rather than just dropping f-bombs left and right), and although the greater objective goal is simple (keep moving) much like the walking dead, what happens along the way is very interesting and some things are quite shocking. Defo looking forward to reading the next volume, i just hope they can keep the momentum up. HORSEC**K!

Brilliant writer.Brutal series.Enjoy,