BRZRKR Vol. 1

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Ever since then, people from various countries have tried to figure him out over the centuries because they wanna harness his genetic code, of course. The latest in this long line are the US government and their eggheads. But who knows what their real deal is. A WAR WITH NO END. The man known only as B. is half-mortal and half-God, cursed and compelled to violence…even at the sacrifice of his sanity. But after wandering the world for centuries, the Berzerker may have finally found a refuge – working for the U.S. government to fight the battles too violent and too dangerous for anyone else. In exchange, B. will be granted the one thing he desires – the truth about his endless blood-soaked existence…and how to end it. This wasn’t really what I was expecting. It’s more fantasy leaning, and Reeves being Reeves I think I was expecting something more SF.

Keanu doesn't make me think "he must be a great writer!", but his action chops are such that I can only imagine that he called the action panels and Kindt rewrote the dialogue to not sound terrible. And they found artists who were totally down to draw hamburger, eyeballs, shattered skulls and flailing intestines. Keanu Reeves makes his comic book writing debut alongside New York Times bestselling co-writer Matt Kindt and acclaimed artist Ron Garney in a brutally violent new series about one immortal warrior’s fight through the ages. I didn't mind the endless violence (did the colourist get a clearout price on red ink?), but that's probably a problem too - this had as much bodily destruction as the Crossed, Vol. 1 bone-chattering fantasies of Garth Ennis, but nowhere near the psychopathological horror - just seemed like BRZRKR dude calculated it'd cost less energy to explode someone's jaw than to step slightly to the right while walking by them. Writers/Creators: Matt Kindt & Keanu Reeves. Artist/Creator: Alessandro Vitti. Covers: Rafael Grampá.Matt Kindt may be the real criminal in this whole enterprise, but who knows how much pen-to-paper work he actually had to do here. As a comic this is mildly entertaining. As a parade of variant covers no one asked for all trying to find ways to draw Keanu covered in blood, weapons, and bloody weapons it's a masterclass. - so. many. variants. BRZRKR is a wide, ever expanding sandbox that Keanu and I like inviting other to play in,” said Executive Editor Eric Harburn in a statement. “Bloodlines Vol. 1 is our first look into many more years of BRZRKR storytelling.”

Immortal Keanun -- oh, wait, make that immortal Unute has spent thousands of years slaughtering people. He continues to do the same in the present day as "Subject B" with much blood, gore (so much brain matter splattering about!), and brooding. Such a sad Keanu! But scientists are supposedly helping him between bloodbaths to recover memories (so many, so sad, so bloody) and determine how he could claim the mortality he desires. Nevertheless, once the rage comes over him, he is a formidable weapon. The problem? It's not what he wants. This is a comic you better not expect too deep a story from. Which is fine by me. I was here for blood and gore and boy, did I get enough of that! Huh...ok then. I've seen my GR friends talk about this comic (Anne actually drew my attention to it). So I read the first volume. It introduces this, so far, unnamed character who seems to be unkillable. He later implies he is immortal. Starting on this volume, which contains the first third of a planned 12-issue series, I expected there to be close to no story, in a negative sense. The surprising thing is that I ended up wishing there was no story at all, with no narration and little dialogue, just gloopy oodles of ultraviolence.

So we have BRZRKR a project starring Keanu as written by Keanu (with an assist from established comic writer Matt Kindt) surely pictured for the big screen.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review* Anne, you seem to think this is a 20-minute read - so either your faculties are operating on a level far faster than my own, or you didn't even attempt to piece together a deeper meaning (or even coherent plot) in this book. I'm not saying there *are* such things in the story, but I *did* find it easier to get through this (it took me at least an hour) by assuming there's a bigger story to tell than "clawless Wolverine ravine-stomps every bipedal in existence". Well, that's easy. It's basically the story of Great Value Wolverine. And as of right now, it's mostly a gore-fest with the barest outline of a plot.The first chapter is sprint through his latest mission single handedly taking out a whole army to destroy a dictator. He was born in a village that got raided every year until their leading pair had had enough. The female village leader went into a cave and "prayed to the gods" - and they (or "he") answered. She woke up pregnant and gave birth after only 60 days. The kid also grew up in record time, but it was obvious soon that this "child" was bloodthirsty. In fact, he was unable to talk whenever he was in one of his states. BRZRKR is essentially what it is, but in that, it’s rather successful. There’s no doubt, a good reason for that is Ron Garney whose art takes the story to cinematic heights. Kindt finds a nice balance in the action to get some character and story in. Then there is the story, which feels derivative, most blatantly of The Old Guard. There's quite some narration, which made me think how much more powerful of a statement this could've been without any narration, and the barest of words spoken. Anyway, it's good. Color me surprised. Pleasantly so. Clearly I was wrong, and Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover, &c.