Raider: Reviews of the Graphic Novel

About "Raider: Dead Men's Tales "...

He’s dashing; he’s super-powered; he’s a secret agent. But Raider has less than two years to live. Working for the Benefactor Agency, a secret organization created by the United Nations in the 1950s, Raider combats the evil Dominator, a global conspiracy attempting world domination. Yes, the organizational names and goals don’t seem too unique, but the 1950s weren’t too creative, right? Raider holds the unique position of being the son of Primus, the current mastermind leading Dominator. After coming to different outlooks, Raider left and became one of the Benefactor Agency’s top agents - and Ben, the director, has taken him under his wing.

Returning from his most recent mission in which Raider was responsible for the deaths of over three hundred men, he discovers that his enhanced capabilities also mean that his body will give out within two years. Frustrated and uncertain, Raider flies to Australia to deliver a letter to the daughter of one of the people he killed. He finds trouble instead when he runs into Vega, a beautiful and talented agent of Dominator. As the two come to blows, they are fired upon and immediately join forces to discover who their assailant is. They soon discover Josh Ballantine, a radical defector from Primus’s inner circle, is responsible. Like the great secret agents they are, Vega and Raider manage their way into a party and snoop around. However, Ballantine discovers them and the chase begins.

Raider’s got charisma. He makes mistakes, he makes jokes, but he is still in the end a much more dynamic character than other popular super secret agents. With his mortality much more obvious and prevalent than your typical agent, his actions and words weigh heavy in the story. The antagonistic but playful chemistry between him and Vega provides some elements of humor and also sympathy for Raider, whom readers know is reluctant to make stronger connections with people.

Thomas F. Zahler fantastically brings readers (and neophytes to the series) up to date with his brief summation of the plot thus far. Anyone can pick up this graphic novel and easily fall right into step and enjoy Raider’s adventures. Even the curious sub-plot with Ben and a captured Dominator agent manages to be descriptive enough for readers to enjoy while also being slightly cryptic enough to entice readers to come back for more.

Zahler’s shadowing in this black-and-white graphic novel can at times be very subtle, particularly with Raider, whose obvious ambiguity can permeate almost every panel. He manages to depict violence and action quite intriguingly, including a fantastic and stark panel illustrating a murder by sword. Zahler’s main fault comes from faces. The closer the face, the worse it seems. Angles, roundness, noses, and proportions are contorted enough that most faces just don’t feel real or come across as distracting.

Lance Eaton
Curled Up With a Good Book

RAIDER: DEAD MAN'S TALES [Maerkle Press; $10.95] is the third volume in the graphic novel series by my good friend Thom Zahler, but, like the earlier books, gives readers a complete and extremely well-told adventure. Nor does this story lack for human interest; Zahler delivers drama and heart in equal proportions to the action and intrigue.Zahler improves with each new book. His characters are real, often flawed human beings. Some seem to be seeking their brighter natures, others succumbing to their worst impulses. Zahler creates genuine suspense as to what their futures will hold.

The pacing of this GN is outstanding. When I finished reading it, I was already eager to read the next one.

RAIDER: DEAD MEN'S TALES earns an impressive four out of five Tonys. I'm thinking it's only a matter of time before some Zahler book achieves the full five out of five.

Tony Isabella
Tony's Tips

About "Raider: A Cold Day in Heaven"...

Zahler was selling this preview to his second RAIDER graphic novel, and reading it, I would guess that I have really missed something, because this is very good. The story, pacing, and art all grabbed me and had me enthralled. RAIDER is an espionage tale, and yet also a mystery. Two things I like. It also has interesting characters, some well-scripted dialogue, and attitude to spare. I’m going to have to dig up the graphic novels and review them over in my MoviePoopShoot column. Grade: A

Mark Mason
The Comics Waiting Room

Raider is fighting to beat the clock as a genome specific virus has fallen into the hands of Dominator agents.

It all sounds like fairly easy stuff, right? Lone wolf mystery man saves the world, spouts catch phrases, and blows stuff up, right? RAIDER isn't that simple.

Thom Zahler is a graduate of the Joe Kubert School of Cartoon and Graphic Art. It doesn't show immediately. His figures are at times sloppy, slightly misaligned. He relies on tone quite a bit, but all of that is fine when faced with his storytelling. Zahler isn't necessarily an artist in terms of figure drawing, though he is a good one, he's a much better writer. Actually, he's a fantastic writer.

Its his characterization that really struck me, notable immediately from the opening chapter, where Raider drags an international criminal hiding out in the US to proper authorities in exchange for a rare bottle of Russian wine, for a friend. No occasion, its just something he can do. I was hooked by the first chapter, and the rest of the book just continued to surprise me and impress me.

The characters are all written quite well, and there isn't a panel that feels like a waste of time. Zahler certainly knows the story he wants to tell, and paces it perfectly, leaving nothing to fall into the realm of filler material. It is some of the strongest storytelling I've come across in indie circles, and I want more. The dialogue has actual wit, and realism. Not so much stylized realism, there are times in the book where everything just seems to flow naturally. Nothing particularly quotable, because its too deep for that.

Oh, except "I'm not one of the good guys. I just work for them." That's priceless.

RAIDER is a fascinating twist on the spy genre, really getting into the characters and their motivations without overwhelming the plot. Every character in the book is well thought out, every action plotted and every nuance perfectly explored. RAIDER is tight, but not constricting, and you are missing something special if you pass it up.
 

Rating: 5 sharks.

Eric Valentine
Mediasharx

Two years back, I reviewed my good friend Thom Zahler's RAIDER FROM THE SHADOWS [Maerkle Press; $14.95] and gave it three-and-a-half Tonys. Because Zahler is a pal, I have to trot out the little speech I've given here before:

I have been kicking around the comics industry for over three decades. I know a lot of comics professionals and I like most of them. It doesn't affect my reviews of their comics, but you should take for a given that I like more of them than I don't. However, when the creator is particularly close to me, as is the case with Zahler, I tell you that up front. It does not influence my review - a friend's bribe spends as well as a stranger's - but my personal critic's code of honor demands I tell you this.

Zahler's RAIDER: A COLD DAY IN HEAVEN [$13.95] is the second in the series and builds upon the promise shown in the first. Even if you haven't read the first still-available-at-fine-comics-shops-and-bookstores book, the introductory "what has gone before" piece in this one will bring you right up to speed.

Raider is a man of mystery fighting the global conspiracy that created him with the enhanced abilities and skills they gave him. He works with the top-secret Benefactor Agency, but he doesn't work for them. He is driven by his own demons and is often frightened by the darkness within him.

In "Rai," Zahler has created a hero who is extremely likeable despite the darkness of his world. That stands in blessed contrast to the lightless existence of the grim-and-gritty cut-ups found in too many other adventure hero comics. Unlike those guys - and I'm talking to you, Batman - I do care when things go horribly awry for Raider. I'm still reeling from the revelation of this book's final pages. Say it isn't so, Thom!

In COLD DAY, the deaths of four residents of a retirement home puts Raider and his allies on the track of the deadliest designer drug ever created. It also reunites him with a lost love and pits him against the man who trained him. The 125-page story is a great mix of edge-of-your-seat action and compelling human drama. Even the supporting players shine in this one.

Visually, Zahler's storytelling is first-rate throughout this book, each panel and page moving the reader along. His drawing is good, but not up to his storytelling. Right now he's a good artist and a better writer. If I might speculate, as an artist, Zahler is still waiting for that eye-opening epiphany that will make it all fall into place and super-charge his art.

When Zahler signed this book to me, he wrote he hoped it would earn him another half-Tony. No problem. I give RAIDER: A COLD DAY IN HEAVEN four Tonys.

Tony Isabella
Tony's Tips

About "Raider: From the Shadows"...

Raider: From the Shadows by Thom Zahler - Thom Zahler is a familiar name, as he's done work for other comics companies, but Raider was my first exposure to his artwork and writing that I can remember. I have to admit, Raider hits my sensibilities pretty square on... I was talked into the graphic novel at San Diego when he pitched it as "Alias (the TV show) meets... er, something I can't remember" (that last bit is me, not Thom. He had me when he mentioned Alias.) His intro to the book mentions the silent issue of G.I. Joe, one of the books instrumental in starting my comics fanaticism, and there's a reference to Die Hard, one of my all-time favorite action movies, in the book as well.

Raider is almost a super-hero book, and the lead character comes complete with mysterious past to rival Wolverine and a name that sounds more like a super nom de plume than an espionage codename. There are also elements of G.I. Joe here, with organizations known as the Benefactors (the good guys, a U.N. secret agency) and Dominators (the bad guys, a terrorist group bent on world domination) mapping pretty well to G.I. Joe and Cobra, as well as other fantastic espionage stories with competing agencies not tied to any specific governmental agenda. Raider is not a sophisticated examination of espionage like Queen & Country or even 24 or Alias. Gray morality, questions of loyalty and trust and operating above the law are all raised, but the protagonists deal with them fairly easily. However, the story is built upon an interesting plot, the characters are likable and well-fleshed-out, and the action is top notch.

Zahler's artwork isn't fantastic, but it gets the job done. While there's not a lot of flash or style, and the character designs are actually somewhat generic, the storytelling is very strong, probably the most important aspect on a book like this. Chases through hotels, martial arts fights, infiltration of enemy bases and a daring aerial rescue are all important elements that wouldn't work without Zahler's ability to tell a story.

Overall, I found Raider to be a little simplistic at times, but it's a page-turner, and those who enjoyed stuff like True Lies, XXX or other action-intensive espionage movies, as well as anyone who misses the classic G.I. Joe series, should definitely take a look when it comes out in December. I liked it a lot. More, please.

Randy Lander
The Fourth Rail.com

“So I figured I'd flip through the book and give Thom one of those doesn't-say-anything quotes like, 'Of all the comics I've seen lately, Raider is certainly one of them.' But Zahler fooled me. He's a storyteller with a story to tell–an exciting one full of fully fleshed out good guys, bad guys and I'm-not-sure guys. So I guess I've got to give him a real recommendation. This is it."

Mark Evanier
Groo, Superheroes in my Pants

...I can tell you Raider is the story of a war being fought in the shadows. On one side is a conspiracy of global proportions and utter ruthlessness. On the other side is an equally secretive international agency. The organizations have fought to a silent standoff for years, but two new elements are now in play. The first is a plan to subvert the American presidential election. The second is the mysterious Raider.

Zahler the writer packs a lot of story into the 144 pages of his first Raider book. He establishes his characters and the world in which they live, reveals much of his hero’s past without slowing down the action or taking away his mystery, and spins an exciting, done-in-one tale.“Rai” is a likeable hero without being too corny about it. He does some amazing things in the course of his battles, but he never makes it look so easy that we forget he’s human or that his life is at nigh-constant risk.Zahler the artist is a solid storyteller. His panel-to-panel and page-to-page flow is terrific; the reader never loses track of the action or has to decipher what's on the page. This is a skill not always evident in today’s comics.When it comes to the drawing, Zahler’s work is good-with-room-for-improvement. Every now and then, there’s an awkward face or a stiff pose that distracted me from the story. Given the length of the story, and Zahler’s relative inexperience, this isn’t entirely unexpected, nor does it change my overall opinion that Raider is an impressive debut from a bright new talent.More James Bond than film noir, Raider From the Shadows would have benefitted from color. But, even in black-and-white, it gives very satisfying bang-for-your-bucks. On our scale of zero to five, Raider gets three-and-a-half Tonys.

Tony Isabella
Tony's Tips

An interesting cross of Bond and Batman (albiet without the cape).

Roger Stern
Superman, Spider-Man, "Smallville: Strange Visitors

An ambitious project that really delivers.

Paul D. Storrie
Gotham Girls, Revisionary, Captain America: Red White and Blue