perhapanauts:first blood--brian's review

okay...

the looooong workweek made me completely miss out on friday and even this kinda end of the weekend semi-post is kinda lame 'cause i'm really just cutting and pasting something someone else wrote, but i will try to get a new post up here tomorrow night as everyone else celebrates yom kippur.

what i'm posting is brian mulcahy's glowing--and much appreciated--review for the perhapanauts:first blood trade on amazon dot com. as i told brian inn my gratitude-gushing email, i was thrilled that someone who actually supported the book was the first to post a comment. these days it seems that everyone and anyone who wants to call themselves a reviewer finds it necessary to dissect and tear apart a work simply to justify their stance as a critic. now, i'm not saying that anyone with a valid critique of this or any other work can't be negative, especially if that's how they feel--i'm all for constructive criticism--that's how we learn and we should be as open to it as possible. but in this current market, where a book like the perhapanauts is still struggling so hard to find its audience, a shiny gold star right at the top of the page doesn't hurt.

(of course, maybe we've found as much of our audience as we're gonna. maybe the perhapanauts appeals to too narrow a group to gain any further success. in that case let me tell you all how thankful we are for YOU--for reading, for telling your friends, for BELIEVING...! personally, i liked the first miniseries. and i'm digging the second one even more! and i can't wait for you to see it!)

okay, enough of me.
my perhapa-friends, i give you
the baltimore comicon
perhapanauts booth
employee of the month,
brian "did you get your choopie butt card" mulcahy

from amazon.com

THE PERHAPANAUTS:FIRST BLOOD

If you were pitching The Perhapanauts to Hollywood as a movie - not a bad idea - you'd say it was the X-Files, with Mulder and Scully replaced by a team consisting of a sasquatch, a ghost, a telepath, a chupacabra and a man who is much more than he appears to be. Who better to investigate the unknown. I fell in love with the concept of The Perhapanauts the first time I heard it and believe it has the potential to be the next Hellboy.

It's hard to write a review of this book because Todd Dezago, the writer, does such a great job of throwing unexpected twists at the reader and turning the reader's expectations on their heads that you really cannot discuss too much of the story without spoiling most of the shocks and surprizes for the reader and with them half the fun of the book. Suffice to say, the story itself is an entertaining mix of humor and horror with a dash of action and adventure thrown in for good measure. The other half of the fun of this book comes from the characters. Todd has done a great job of bringing together about as diverse a group as one is ever likely to find under one roof. There is Arisa, the telepath and fledgling team leader, who is feeling her way through a job for which there is no instruction manual in this dimension or any other; Big, the sasquatch, who on first glance looks like the muscle of the team, but turns out to be the brains as well; Choopie, the blood sucking chupacabra, who looks like the comedy relief, but can be counted on in a fight - or can he?; MG, who looks for all the world like your typical Hollywood action hero, but looks can be deceiving; and, my personal favorite, Molly, a young ghost who is having a very hard time coming to grips with her lot in life, or more appropriately in the after-life.

The art is supplied by Craig Rousseau, co-creator of The Perhapanauts with Todd, and colors are provided by Rico Renzi, the third member of The Perhapanauts creative team. Craig has a very clean and open art style which I've been a fan of for years. Craig is a gifted visual story teller who is equally adept at delivering both the big action scene and the quieter character moments. Craig and Todd work well together as a team with Craig's visuals adding a visceral impact to Todd's story twists that really bring those moments home to the reader. Rico's coloring also works well with Craig's art and enhances the story. A good example of this is Rico's coloring of Molly, the ghost. Rico's colors bring home to the reader Molly's etherial nature and provide a constant reminder of the challenges her condition poses for her.

If you are a fan of good story telling and are looking for a fun read, this is the book for you.



thanks so much, brian!
hopefully it'll get more people to give the 'haps a second look.
and a second chance.

smell ya later!
todd