Revival: Live Like You Mean It Review

Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Mike Norton

The first volume of Revival was an amazing and unique story, but can it continue to amaze with this volume? Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

For one day in rural central Wisconsin, the dead came back to life. Now the living and the recently returned struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy, amidst political and religious conflicts.

This volume was ever so slightly different from the first, as despite still having the same core theme and story development, the main story development in this volume had a more of a rime based feel to it, with the story having an even eerier and more realistic tone to it.

Tim Seeley didn’t just give us a great story with this volume, but he also managed to continue the overall events of the series perfectly, giving us both a stand alone story, whilst delving into set-ups from the last volume. Seeley also continued to focus heavily on character development, whilst also introducing some new characters at the same time, using their individual characteristics to heighten the quality of the story. I also loved how Seeley continued to make this a very mysterious series, whilst also showing even more of it’s crime genre as well.

The artwork from Mike Norton once again outstanded me, and the combination of Seeley’s great writing and Norton’s fabulous art has really made this a awesome series tone wise. Much like the first volume it was the layout of Norton’s art that made it as phenomenal as it is, as not only did it help the story to flow even more smoothly, but it’d also add more depth and tone to the story. Norton also once again did a great job of showing the characters emotions in this volume, as it added a lot of intensity and drama to the story, as well as making it even more suspenseful.

Overall this was a great continuation to Seeley and Norton’s Revival series, with the story being very intense and interesting, and I for one would highly recommend it.

Rating: 8/10

Revival: You're Among Friends Review

Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Mike Norton

There have been plenty of series that have featured the dead coming back to life, but how will this more unique take match up to the others over the years? Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

For one day in rural central Wisconsin, the dead came back to life. Now it's up to Officer Dana Cypress to deal with the media scrutiny, religious zealots, and government quarantine that has come with them. In a town where the living have to learn to deal with those who are supposed to be dead, Officer Cypress must solve a brutal murder, and everyone, alive or undead, is a suspect. The sell-out hit series created by NYT Bestselling author TIM SEELEY and Eisner winning artist MIKE NORTON is collected with bonus material!

There are plenty of comics featuring the undead going about, with Image’s own The Walking Dead being the most popular in the last decade. This series however is much more unique, as it’s much more mysterious, questioning whether it’s religiously linked or just some spontaneous event, having a more realistic tone compared to other undead related series.

One of the key things for this story being so successful has to be Tim Seeley, as his great imagination, along with his fantastic ability to write unusual stories takes this from a simple supernatural story to something much more dramatic and suspenseful. Seeley also adds a lot of character depth and emotion to this tale, making each character as unique as the story is itself. I also loved how Seeley didn’t shy away from getting ever so slightly controversial, as despite the fact that some of the character reactions could seem ever so slightly offensive to certain cultures, it makes the story much more realistic in nature, ultimately making it that much more intense.

Mike Norton’s artwork was also very impactful on this story, with the layout and character’s facial expressions adding the perfect tone and atmosphere for this tale. I also loved the graphic sequences that Norton drew as well, as despite the fact that it was the overall eeriness and  emotion to Norton’s art that appealed to me the most, the graphicness of certain sequences would add a lot of intensity and drama to the story, making it that much more impactful.

If you’re looking for something a little different than most comics then this is the series to get, as it is simply outstanding being very dramatic and intense, whilst having a very powerful subject mater.

Rating: 9/10