Genecy 4


Let the ride divine begin!


The first thing that I love about this comicbook is that it begins with a rescue attempt from hell. Twenty-two rescue ships and only one survives; the lone surviving rescue ship is so packed with people that it compromises the craft and the rescuers are forced to eliminate most of their passengers; an attack ship a dozen times more powerful than the rescue ship comes along and obliterates nearly everything. End of rescue.

From the point of view of the galaxy-wide Grunnod Empire it's just another day at the office. This little rebellions must happen to them all the time. The Grunnods are in the mold of the Badoon from Guardians of the Galaxy or the Martians that Killraven fought against.

I did say they obliterate nearly everything. One guy survives - Kaizaax. This guy.




Who reminds me of this guy.


Who, in turn, reminds me to complain to writer Gerald Cooper why there are no scantily clad women in this issue.

Kaizaax survives because he obtains some kind of power object.




This object, the key, transports him out of the Grunnod's reach.

Two things about the story up to this point:

First, you'll notice that things don't go according to plan for the Grunnod's. It's not a clean sweep of the rescue attempt. Someone survives- with an object of power no less. As Michael Crichton so brilliantly put it: "Life finds a way". Nothing is airtight, not all of the Grunnod's resources and systems has prevented this - and that's a great truth isn't it? A wonderful truth - the reality of the outside chance.

Secondly, the role of destiny. Kaizaax does absolutely nothing to merit survival. He was simply meant to survive - again, a simple truth of life. Sometimes its just your lucky day.

So Kaizaax gets transported to a structure called the Dome of Raknirod.

I can't go into this next part without focusing on the art of Eddy Barrows and the colors of Tim Ogul and Oren Kramek.

This double page splash is particularly noteworthy.



enlarge

Wonderful lighting effect. And look at the carvings in the ceiling; up close the detail is pretty impressive.

Here's another beautiful rendition : A warrior, etched on the wall, comes to life.






Gorgeous isn't it? And these guys come out to attack Kaizaax. Up till now, Kaizaax lives because of the whim of destiny, but the dome is a testing place. The key gives him some level of power but he is still hard put to defend himself. The multitude that attacks him blurs into a numberless horde - turn them into insects and you've got the Annihilation Swarm that took out Johnny Storm.

Kaizaax survives, surprisingly nearly unscathed and it seems not even breathing hard. But a final test remains.



Rathgar looks tough, and he is, Kaizaax is unable to defeat him. Thankfully he doesn't have to. Raknirod stops the fight. Here's Raknirod.



Looking at Raknirod, other images pop up in my head. Like this guy . . .


the one above all

The-One-Above-All, one of Marvels Celestials. This guy is also a close fit.



You know who.

Kaizaax has somehow passed the test and is granted by Raknirod what seems to be incredible power; and thus Genecy is revealed.



The cosmic nature of this tale, and the images of previous comics it brings to mind, sets up a very specific set of expectations - particularly for long time comicbook readers.

We also have a bunch of questions: Who was the old man who gave Kaizaax the key? Why did he have the key to begin with? What's the deal with Raknirod and Rathgar? What's the backstory on those two? Why did Genecy have to be created? What's Kaizaax really like as a person? What's his story?

In the end Genecy no. 1 fulfills a very important goal - it makes me want to read Genecy no. 2

Posted by  Pete Albano - January 27, 2011




Gerald Cooper Interview


We are here with Gerald Cooper, creator of Genecy and writer of Genecy No. 1. as he tells us more about the first issue of Genecy and  the upcoming Genecy No. 2.

Hailing from Cincinnati Ohio, Gerald Cooper was raised on science fiction from birth. Whenever there's an available computer or a pen and paper, you'll find him painting a colorful picture with words.

Pete : Thanks for taking the time to do this interview Gerald. How long have you had the idea for Genecy? Take us through how you conceived of the character and the universe he moves in an seen in Genecy No. 1.

Gerald : It seems like it's been for 100 centuries! Just kidding! for about 18 years. I wanted to come out with a character who had a good heart and good intentions, but was raised incorrectly. This would cause him to make the wrong choices in life, making room for character development. Throughout his many adventures, Genecy bumps into many alien cultures that are different from his. This will cause him to question his own mindset and patterns of thought. Genecy's main battle will be with his conditioning. Here's the preview :

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/genecy/genecy-2-the-cosmic-theatre-continues.

Pete : Diego Benard will be doing the art for issue no. 2. His art is fantastic, his female characters, in particular, are gorgeous. Will we be seeing any female characters in the next issue?

Gerald : Ha ha! Yes! Diego Benard is an amazing artist! Absolutely amazing! In the third issue we will introduce the first woman in the series. So ya gotta wait until then. The second issue completes the origin story and to throw a woman into the mix strictly for a wonderful visual wasn't good enough for us. The woman that we introduce in the third issue is really out there, so Diego is gonna have fun with that!

Pete : One of the fun things to do while reading Genecy no. 1 is guessing what inspired you to add the various elements of the story based on what it reminds me of. For example, the Grunnod Empire reminds me of the Badoon, Kaizaax sort of looks like Conan, Raknirod reminds me of Galactus or the Celestials and Genecy brings up thoughts of the Silver Surfer. Makes me wonder about your background as a fan. Who or what are your biggest influences in terms of how you wrote Genecy? What are your favorite comics and comics creators? What's on your current pull list?

Gerald : Well let's see here. I guess that I can look at the Grunnodian Empire as a cross between Apokolips and the Star Wars Empire with a twist of Olympus. Yeah, Kaizaxx is pretty much like Conan with pointy ears (I'm an Elf Quest fan too) and Raknirod can indeed arm wrestle with Galactus and Eternity. I have no issue with Genecy putting one in the mind of the Surfer but we have to recognize the grand differences. Norrin Radd was one of, if not the greatest scientist on his planet. His rearing was also one to be desired. Kaizaxx on the other hand was raised a slave. His rearing will put you in the mind of "Roots" mixed with "Schindler"s List" . In that, Kaizaxx is nothing like Norrin. Nope. Not at all. Speaking of influences, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby! From there we go to Marv Wolfman, Jim Starlin, Walter Simonson, Tom Defalco, John Byrne, Larry Niven, Chris Claremont, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Reginald Bretnor and Ray Cummings. There are actually very special ones that I’ll mention at another time. What's on my current pull list? Wow! What isn't? The Lynda Williams' "Okal Rel Universe" series and Tad Williams' " Otherland" are cool reads when it comes to pure science fiction. Different strokes.

Pete : You mentioned Genecy No. 3. How many issues of Genecy have you got mapped out? Do you have a rough outline or do you actually have the full scripts? Are we looking at an ongoing periodical or a limited series?

Gerald : I have completed 14 full scripts. My hope is that we can do this as an ongoing series. There are so many issues, so many surprises and so much room for character growth.

Pete : Tell us about when you released Genecy No. 1. When and where was this? From that time to now what kind of feedback have you been getting about Genecy?

Gerald : After several starts and stops, we finally launched issue # 1 at the Wizard World Chicago convention in '09. Since then, we've had many reviews with thumbs up and many online sales. People are sticking with us on Facebook and Twitter and now everyone can go to our Kickstarter campaign! So far this has been an amazing ride!

Pete : Speaking of rides, what's with "Let The Ride Divine Begin!"? Did Kaizaax become a god of some sort?

Gerald : (Laughs) Well dad monopolized on the word 'Excelsior', so I had to come out with something else.

Pete : (Laughs). Ok, Gerald, thank you for your time. You have the last word. Anything you want to say to Genecy fans? The floor is yours . . .

Gerald : "And the Ride Divine continues ..." Well that would have been a cool way to end it, right? (laughs). My hope is that everyone finds themselves within the story somewhere ... that you find a connection with a character or a situation. Even though this is science fiction, there's a reflection there that gives you something to identify with.

Posted by  Pete Albano - February 15, 2011


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