"Lucid: Volume One" Graphic NovelReview
Written by James "Spez" Ferguson
Published by Archaia Entertainment
Originally published as Lucid #1 - #4
Written by Michael McMillian
Illustrated by Anna Wieszczyk
2011, 112 Pages
Graphic Novel released on June 7th, 2011
Review:
I'm sure that being a secret service agent has got to be a tough job. You have to be on constant alert against any possible threat. Fortunately, you rarely have to deal with any supernatural or magical dangers. That's handled by Majestic Intelligence and they are very good at what they do. Working just out of sight, the agents of Majestic have used the occult to protect presidents for ages. These aren't the wizards from Harry Potter, though. They are far tougher and a lot more advanced. Instead of wands, they have cybernetic gloves that they use to channel their powers. Magic Version 2.0.
There's an ancient prophecy that's ready to rear its ugly head and challenge this group. It's written that a being known only as The Pendragon will one day awaken the magical potential in all of mankind. As it stands now, only a fraction of the human race has the ability to tap into these powers. If it became widespread, the world would be filled with chaos. The Pendragon prophecy looked like it was about to be fulfilled once before. That was when Kennedy was shot with a literal magic bullet and put an end to any worries. Majestic is trying to prevent that from happening again.
The current Protector of the Realm is agent Matthew Dee. He's your typical super secret agent, yet troubled anti-hero who's dating a supernatural being. Dee springs into action as the President is attacked. He frantically searches for answers that lead him to Pendragon in an unlikely place.
The first volume of Lucid sets the framework for an intriguing supernatural espionage tale. Imagine the fun you can have with history if you explain some of the unexplainable with magic. The Kennedy assassination is just one brilliant idea, but there's so much more. Author Michael McMillian — who you might know as the vampire-hating Reverend Steve Newlin from True Blood — has created a world where anything can happen filled with people that want to genuinely change everything. While McMillan does a great job setting all this up, it's a lot of information to take in in just four issues. At times the dialogue is pretty thick with exposition.
Artist Anna Wieszczyk keeps Lucid moving at a quick pace. Her art reminds me of that seen in many anime series, as well as MTV's Aeon Flux. The characters are lanky, but fluid. Matthew Dee is suitably disheveled as the weight of the world starts to affect him. Wieszczyk is also responsible for the art in Godkiller, but this is a noticeable improvement from that. Oddly, although Godkiller is a motion comic, her art in Lucid shows far more movement.
I could easily see Lucid translating into an hour long TV show. Granted, the four issues collected here would represent one episode, but it would be one interesting episode. This is merely the groundwork to what I hope becomes a larger ongoing series. There are just so many possibilities. If Majestic is the organization for the US, do other countries have similar set-ups? What kind of evil lurks in the dark corners of the world? It gives a whole new meaning to the term "Weapons of Mass Destruction."
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