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Helos

By Tao Mori
January 13, 2011 - 20:55

   Helos is a story set in the post apocalyptic future of mankind where some technology exists but mankind has been reorganized into different groups and factions.

    Right in the beginning of this book we learn that there two main factions the Puralists and the Helids. The Helids are the protagonists of our story and they are made up of a collection of different kingdoms, which are not united unlike the Puralists who are a united front. The map in the beginning of the comic shows that the Puralists states consists of Haiti, Cuba and Florida, whereas the Helid empires are more to the West and North. Some technology exists despite many years passing since the nuclear war and the sheets of ice covering much of North America. There’s trains, motorcycles and the occasional car. Bullets sound like they are difficult to come by, but they do have guns with limited ammunition, but the bulk of the fighting is done through melee combat. The comic has this Road Warrior meets the Medieval ages, which is a combination that works very well for this series.

 

   In this first issue we learn about the situation in this futuristic earth, I think Helos was able to find a good balance between giving us enough information without making it too dry and making the reader want to know more. It sets up the conflict in this story in a very political way. We learn that the Jassani empire is trying to put the Sultan of Ewanni back on his thrown so that Ewanni will be strong against the eventual Puralist attack. Jassani it appears are the closest thing we get to our own society, but perhaps even that’s a stretch as we haven’t really met all of the people in this world yet. The Jassani disdain the Sultan of Ewanni as he acts holier than thou, which gives us the impression that the Jassani people are more moralistic and practical. Perhaps it’s just me than can relate to them better than the others in the story, but I think that represents Western society more so than anybody else, so far even though they have an emperor instead of a President or Prime Minister.
    The characters in the story are very distinct, though sometimes the drawings of the faces are a bit obscured so you aren’t sure who’s who, but this doesn’t happen to often. One might find the characters to be a bit stereotypical, the tough general, the greedy sultan, the compassionate nephew of the general, and the rough and tumble captain who looks after the nephew. I didn’t get struck by this while reading through it, but I could see how someone might find it that way. In some ways the idea of an empire supporting another empire who they don’t really like, but have to do in order to create a sense of mutual protection isn’t a completely original concept, but I feel the execution here is done successful. I seem to keep leaning back into the politics of the comic, which is easy to do, and for those who read this and despise politics, I apologize, and you may not like this comic.
    There is a great deal of violence, and fighting, but this isn’t the whole comic. It does touch on some of the fighting from a strategic perspective where we get to see that they use motorized units, made up of motorcyclists (no mention of fuel in the comic at all by the way), which they try and use as a flanking force. Clearly some vehicles have survived the apocalypse and are still being used for war. Some things will never change. You get a bit of the planning, though it would be cool if they drew a tactical map or something like that for the reader so we can see where each unit is, where it’s going to deploy. I guess that isn’t an entirely original concept, but it would be a neat addition to see the tactical planning for post apocalyptic warfare.
    My one criticism that I just realized right now when thinking about what to criticize is that there are no female characters in this book. There are women, but these are mostly arm candy, no woman speaks in the entire comic book. I would imagine that women play some role in this post-apocalyptic society even if it has reverted to the Medieval Ages, has no one seen Pillars of Earth? Come on. Okay that just came out, but still.
    The artwork in Helos, I believe, was done by computer. For the most part it is well done, but as I mentioned earlier there are some drawings that make it hard to see the face of the character. Either it is drawn very plainly or lacks distinctive features. This doesn’t happen with eye patch guy though, you always know its him, mostly cause of the eye patch. Funny how these little details can make all the difference in terms of identification. I think the author has something for eye patches as the Puralist guy at the end of the book is missing an eye, but doesn’t have an eye patch, still weird coincidence, then again I suppose its more likely to lose an eye in Medieval warfare with all of those pointy thingies. Another mention towards the artwork is that there are some panels with very good details where you can see the armour or the other things that they wear. Also shading on the faces is done very well in some scenes, especially in the last panel, where the nephew’s face looks very ominous in how the shading was done. Great work in this arena especially.
    All in all, I am very positive towards this piece, I think that this piece was written towards an audience like me specifically that likes to combine the future with the past. I don’t know if this appeals to everyone, but I enjoyed it. This comic is available on the next just go to www.bigsexycomicbooks.com and you can see this issue along with their two others, Teuton and Mike Gorbsmith. I will post reviews of those two within the next few days.

Rating: 9 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12