Creature Tech
November 20th, 2002by Doug TenNapel
ISBN: 1891830341
Wow. This is an amazing and meaty book: one of the few (okay, okay, of admittedly not very many) graphic novels that I’ve read that really felt like a novel. TenNapel, while sweeping you into his story, does take his time to build characters, set a scene, and tell a multilayered, connected story.
At the same, it also felt (particularly at the beginning) that it could be done as animation. Maybe I was influenced by knowing that TenNapel was the creator of Earthworm Jim, maybe it is just that his scenes were more action-oriented than my usual comic reading. It probably also is due to the beautiful artwork, because you can see into the story in a way that would be impossible with a lesser-skilled artist.
The main figure is Dr. Ong, Nobel Prize-winning son of a scientist turned preacher. He returns to his tiny hometown to work at the Research Technical Institute, better known to the locals as Creature Tech. Monsters, ghosts, supernatural powers, aliens, religion, science, love, humor, fights, good versus evil, weird goverment goings-on: Creature Tech has it all. I almost think of it as a superhero comic for people who absolutely don’t want to read a superhero comic.
TenNapel even covers the little things, like how Dr. Ong gets his shirt on with the symbiant stuck to his chest. This may sound small, but it is one of those details that would be annoying if they weren’t explained. He pays attention to the little questions, so the reader can focus on the big questions he has in play. He is going for some big questions, too, about the meaning of faith and what it takes to believe.
Don’t just go read this one, go buy it. It is worth every penny.
