Kristo

So, this is a blog post which is late. Very, VERY late.

 

In February 2015, I attended the first (and my first) True Believers Comic Festival, where I met an abundance of new and established creators who I had never before met.

 

One of these creators was writer Sam Roads, who (at the time) was holding a table to sell his (if memory serves correctly) two graphic novels: Silicon Hearts, which I (stupidly) passed on as I was already reading Alex + Ada which I considered similar, and Kristo, which I considered to be the more intriguing of the two. (He's since also released Cryowulf which I've never heard of, but have read that it's rather good.)

 

Kristo by Sam Roads and Aleksandr
Sheikman. If this cover doesn't make
you intrigued, I don't know what will.

This is because Kristo is (if the name hadn't given it away) an unique adaptation of the Count of Monte Cristo. Set in Revolutionary Russia, Kristo tells the story of World War 1 veteran Captain Isaak Solzhenitsyn, who's after war plans of a happy life with his new wife and unborn child are dashed when his best friend, his father-in-law and sister conspire to frame Isaak for Treason, using his death as a means to excel themselves within the new Soviet Union. However, Isaak is not killed but imprisoned, until the Second World War brings him the opportunity to become Major Kristo and begin his plan for revenge against those who wronged him.

Now, I can't really say why it's taken me over five years to actually read this comic. All I can attribute it to is bad luck as day after day and week after week other titles have ended up on my desk which have happened to obscure it from my sight and memory. However, after reading it late last week, I do wish I'd made more of an effort with it.

 

That is because, I found Kristo to be rather enjoyable as Sam Roads writes a revamp of Alexander Dumas' classic novel which is so completely refreshing and different in terms of it's locale and characters but still feels quintessentially like the original story. I've never read the novel myself (it's on my list) but I have seen the movie (which is somewhat blasphemous in my opinion) and it's one which I have always enjoyed both as a concept and story specifically. Therefore, despite it's numerous changes, Roads and Sheikman were able to maintain the basic footprints while creating a completely different path (weird analogy but let me go with it).

Not only that though but I also liked who the creators included a nice, fun Easter egg on the final page of the book as well as their historical notes on some of the major influences of the time, speaking volumes to their attention to detail in my opinion. Meanwhile, while I did think that Aleksandr Sheikman's art looked a little rough as I opened to the first page, I realised as I delved further in that it's grim and gritty visual style really worked well with the tone of the book, as well as my perception of Revolution and War on the Russian Front.

As I come to the end of this post, I think back and wonder 'is the reason it took so long to read Kristo because I didn't really feel it/find it worthy of reading? If that was the case, then I think it's safe to say that I was wrong. I really enjoyed Kristo and, if there is any major complaint I had, I do wish it had been longer than it turned out to be as it was an really compelling story.

Hopefully, it teaches me not to put off reading things in future.