Tsar Wars

[Colin YNWA]

Well wow, simply wow.

I made a mistake with this. I thought rather than review each story as I go along I'd review the Tsar Wars in one fell swoop. The trouble having got to that point its just seems too bigger prospect, its just so epic in scope. Both in the scale of the events that occur but also in the way it handles and changes Dante's characters. Having read this story after hearing so much about it I was wondering if it could live up to the hype. It does that and more. Having read it I feel I have a far greater understanding of the post 1500 stories I've read and really can't wait to return to them to enjoy them again seen with the depth of affection I have from this character and his co-stars gained by this story arc.

It wasn't quite perfect. Towards the start, in say the first couple of books I wanted a 'war room' scene to set the stage. To give me a sense of the geography of the conflicit rather then just chopping along viewing the war from the perspective of Dante. I except this may have been somewhat stiffling on the flow of the openning but anyone who's read Cerebus' 'High Society' knows how this type of scene can work.

That aside I'd have... no reckon that's about it.

Someone said on this board not thaat long ago that its a shame that when people have reviewed comics of the decade Dante has been ignored. You know what whoever it was (apologise for not remembering who said it or where) was damned right. This is the story of perfect comics. Its 'Charley's War', its Dredd, its simply brillant.

Christ this isn't so much as a review as a gushing exultation but sod it it deserves it. You know I thought there wouldn't be anything that would look the first 4 books of Nemesis square in the eyes and say 'Oh sure you're good but look at me'... I'll know if its the best when I do my planned Dante re-read in a year or two. But the thing is it has a chance.

[radiator]

Get off the fence - did you like it or not?

Glad you enjoyed it so much - I live in hope that when Dante is over, will live on through the trade collections and go on to be 'discovered' by the much wider audience it deserves, forever to be remembered as being up there with the very best of British comics. It's an astounding achievement.

What's so great about it is that all the big events in the story are always unpredictable without ever seeming contrived or ill thought out - you can just tell that Morrison has always had the bare bones of this grand plot worked out since it first began all those years ago.

Interestingly, I believe when Dante was first pitched to 2000AD, it was to begin in the aftermath of the war against the Tsar - ISTR reading that it was David Bishop who convinced Morrison to dial it back and start the story much earlier, before Dante joined the Romanovs - thank God he did, it's made for a far more satisfying series.

Though it must be great being able to read it all in one go, there's something very special about following an epic, sweeping story like Tsar Wars as it's originally serialised - the long wait between installments adding to the excitement.

[The Monarch]

.....

wahhhhhh andreas!!!!

and that was my reaction to prog 1260 when I first read it

[Dark Jimbo]

It's a testament to Tsar Wars, I think, that I joined the prog part way through - Battleship Potemkin, to be precise - so naturally didn't have the faintest idea who anyone was or how their backstories tied in, and yet I still thought this was possibly the best story(ies) running in the prog at the time, and all the various revelations still pushed the right buttons.

[Colin Zeal]

Dante overall is an excellent story, but Tsar Wars really knocked my socks off. Seeing the page where Dante walks in to find Ingrid has killed herself blew me away. Showed how much the story was going to change as a result of the war, and also how much Dante is going to change but also blame himself for. The art work is all first class as well.

[Mike Gloady]

I'd agree with everything said above.  I really enjoyed Dante BEFORE this series, by the end it was challenging Dredd in my affections (and continues to do so).  It's an absolute classic.

[SuperSurfer]

Tsar Wars was the point that I realised how superb Dante is (I'm talking about script as both main artists are top notch).

I wrote to Tharg at the time, wondering why the input page is not full of tons of letters singing its praises.

[radiator]

The only thing I disliked about TW is that I wanted it to be longer! I remember feeling gutted that there were only 4 books instead of the 5 that were promised (I think books 4 and 5 were combined). I thought there was plenty of scope for more stories there.

[Mike Gloady]

Agreed.