- Paperback: 168 pages
- Publisher: Titan Books Ltd (28 Aug 2009)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1848562853
- ISBN-13: 978-1848562851
- Product Dimensions: 25.6 x 16.6 x 1 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 402,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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"A cool premise, badass characters, intelligent speculative fiction and, of course, stunningly beautiful artwork." - " --TheFourthRail.com
Product Description
A hundred years from now, mankind has extended their exploration of space as far as Jupiter and its many moons. But a discovery on Europa could end everything...When a tiny research station discovers thousands of coffins floating in the gigantic sea underneath Europa's ice covering, UN weapons inspector Nathan Kane is sent to investigate. But the massive DOORS corporation also has investigators on Europa, and soon Kane is plunged into a race to discover the secret of the coffins...a secret that could mean the end of the Universe! Acclaimed writer Warren Ellis ("Transmetropolitan") and artist Chris Sprouse ("Tom Strong") present this chilling look into the future! Warning: adults only!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As the title of my review suggests I haven't read a great deal of Warren Ellis' work, apart from a few issues of Planetary, so I hoped this six issue comic would be a decent way to try him out.
I thought Ocean was really quite good, it's got well written characters, both good and bad. While it has some very interesting ideas behind it, as all great science fiction should. Like use of preprogrammed personalities for company lackies, and weapons for use on space stations.
My only real criticism of it, is down to it's pacing. Originally this was a film pitch, and unfortunately you can tell. A few pages go by without dialog, and simply show big set pieces, spaceships flying through space and such forth, while these are impressive on the eye, I couldn't help feeling that it slowed some of story down. I suppose also I was eager for another issue to continue the story, but that is not a real criticism, that just demonstrates how much I enjoyed the series.
Chris Sprouse's artwork is nice, it's sharp, detailed, and tells the story very well. The opening pages of coffins under Europa's frozen oceans was impressive, it really captured the depth perception needed for the scene. But overall maybe not as impressive as his work on Tom Strong, but a little more realistic too.
As a film pitch it worked very well, I'd love to see a movie version of this and I'm sure it would sit fairly well against other sci-fi films of this nature; Moon, the Solaris remake, Sunshine, and aspects of Alien.
The edition I went for is the 2005 edition, ISBN 9781401208493, which includes a cover gallery in addition to two pages of design sketches for weapons and characters. I don't know if the newer edition is different, but I will update this when I find out.
I thought Ocean was really quite good, it's got well written characters, both good and bad. While it has some very interesting ideas behind it, as all great science fiction should. Like use of preprogrammed personalities for company lackies, and weapons for use on space stations.
My only real criticism of it, is down to it's pacing. Originally this was a film pitch, and unfortunately you can tell. A few pages go by without dialog, and simply show big set pieces, spaceships flying through space and such forth, while these are impressive on the eye, I couldn't help feeling that it slowed some of story down. I suppose also I was eager for another issue to continue the story, but that is not a real criticism, that just demonstrates how much I enjoyed the series.
Chris Sprouse's artwork is nice, it's sharp, detailed, and tells the story very well. The opening pages of coffins under Europa's frozen oceans was impressive, it really captured the depth perception needed for the scene. But overall maybe not as impressive as his work on Tom Strong, but a little more realistic too.
As a film pitch it worked very well, I'd love to see a movie version of this and I'm sure it would sit fairly well against other sci-fi films of this nature; Moon, the Solaris remake, Sunshine, and aspects of Alien.
The edition I went for is the 2005 edition, ISBN 9781401208493, which includes a cover gallery in addition to two pages of design sketches for weapons and characters. I don't know if the newer edition is different, but I will update this when I find out.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
100 years from now, UN special weapons inspector Nathan Kane is sent to the first human space station orbiting Jupiter's moon Europe, because of the perfectly functioning sarcophaguses found in the sea below its frozen surface... and of what's down there with them. Kane and the station's crew aren't the only one who know, though: The crazed manager of a corporate space station has triggered the menace lurking in the European ocean and Kane and his crew are all that stands between mankind and total annihilation at the hands of a billion years old menace...
Revealing more would spoil the fun and the brilliant roller-coasting thrilling journey of discovery this book is, so I'll stop now.
What I'll rant on about is how this graphic novel, optioned for a movie that may sadly never happen, guiltily went under the radar of too many critics and fans.
Writer Warren Ellis throws so many concepts at you here and draws on so many ssources, that your head will spin - so complex and articulated this graphic novel is - if you don't take your time reading, taking in the sights and letting the story and characters work on you. The book is about the beauty and perils and courage of space travel and of explorering in general; about pioneers and a batmanesque main character; about critisising and satirising corporate culture; about horrors from beyond time and the evil that's as much at the core of the human race as is its yearn to live and better itself despite being flawed. All this thrown at you at increasingly dazzling speed. The pace, in fact, builds up slowly but once it seriously picks up halfway through, it's hard to put the book down.
Artist Chris Sprouse draws the hell out of it too, reaching unprecedented highs of scary darkness with his essential, crisp, expressive artwork.
Completing the book's excellent presentation are the stunning covers of the original issues by comics legend Michael Golden, here reproduced as chapter headings, and the Sprouse's preparatory artwork used as some sort of chapter heading pages.
In all, an excellent book, beatifully designed too, that would be a pearl in every serious sci-fi fan's shelves.
Revealing more would spoil the fun and the brilliant roller-coasting thrilling journey of discovery this book is, so I'll stop now.
What I'll rant on about is how this graphic novel, optioned for a movie that may sadly never happen, guiltily went under the radar of too many critics and fans.
Writer Warren Ellis throws so many concepts at you here and draws on so many ssources, that your head will spin - so complex and articulated this graphic novel is - if you don't take your time reading, taking in the sights and letting the story and characters work on you. The book is about the beauty and perils and courage of space travel and of explorering in general; about pioneers and a batmanesque main character; about critisising and satirising corporate culture; about horrors from beyond time and the evil that's as much at the core of the human race as is its yearn to live and better itself despite being flawed. All this thrown at you at increasingly dazzling speed. The pace, in fact, builds up slowly but once it seriously picks up halfway through, it's hard to put the book down.
Artist Chris Sprouse draws the hell out of it too, reaching unprecedented highs of scary darkness with his essential, crisp, expressive artwork.
Completing the book's excellent presentation are the stunning covers of the original issues by comics legend Michael Golden, here reproduced as chapter headings, and the Sprouse's preparatory artwork used as some sort of chapter heading pages.
In all, an excellent book, beatifully designed too, that would be a pearl in every serious sci-fi fan's shelves.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had really high expectations of this book so i guess it was easier for me to be disapointed. The artwork of course is amazing but i found the plot far too predictable and condensed. Here's hoping the film improves on it when it finally comes around.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
ocean
a very good story, surprisingly original concept. light as far as comic books go. good immersive action and characters are very enteraining for moment. Good for a few rereads. Read more
Published 8 months ago by E McKenna
Water world
Set in the future where mankind has perfected space travel, a UN weapons inspector is called to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons covered entirely by ice beneath which is water, to... Read more
Published 16 months ago by Sam Quixote
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