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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 4, 2018 9:42:19 GMT -5
Been thinking about this thread over the past few weeks, as I haven't touched it in 3 1/2 years (has it really been that long? Damn time flies). I finished reading the Arak series a couple of years back, but never got around to reviewing it. The second half of the series was a bit disappointing to me. Not that it was bad, but it didn't live up to the potential of the first half. I kind of felt that it was just getting back on its feet when word hit it was going to be cancelled and there was a rush to wrap things up that threw the pacing off-kilter for the last bit of the run. Overall, the series is definitely worth reading, though it will likely be a while before I would revisit it. I have a big ole pile of fantasy stuff sitting amongst the to read stuff, so I might start adding a stray review here or there, not sure yet. Too often review threads lose their appeal as fun and become work for me, but I need a little focus to start writing again and often the routine of a review thread can help me to get started, so we'll see. With the possibility in mind though, I did go back and restore all the cover pics that had gone missing over the intervening years. If I do pick this up, I will likely broaden the focus to fantasy in general rather than just "heroic fantasy" a.k.a. sword & sorcery stuff, to the point where anything that would have fit into Gygax or Moldvay's list of recommended reading (from the DMG Appendix and the Basic Set final page) had it included comics would be "eligible" for inclusion. I might even port the Heavy Metal reviews I started into this thread too, or ask to have the threads merged. -M I haven't re-read Arak in eons. I loved it when it was coming out, but in retrospect I largely agree with what you're saying. I think the first big blow was the loss of Ernie Colon. I really didn't love the Mohawked Shaman phase. And just as it was turning around their was the rush to the finish and, as I recall, Thomas was just plotting the book and foisted the scripting off on someone else. Still a book that I loved at the time, but that could have been a lot more. |
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Apr 4, 2018 13:43:22 GMT -5
I haven't re-read Arak in eons. I loved it when it was coming out, but in retrospect I largely agree with what you're saying. I think the first big blow was the loss of Ernie Colon. I really didn't love the Mohawked Shaman phase. And just as it was turning around their was the rush to the finish and, as I recall, Thomas was just plotting the book and foisted the scripting off on someone else. Still a book that I loved at the time, but that could have been a lot more. the someone else was Dann Thomas, his wife and co-writer on a lot of projects at the time. -M At the end though it was R.J.M. Lofficier that was scripting (had to look it up). |
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Apr 4, 2018 18:16:46 GMT -5
I remember Roy talking about continuing the series in another medium in one of the final letters pages (film, novels, or as a follow-up maxi series down the line all floated as possibilities) but I don't think anything ever came of any of that. -M I would have loved the series to conclude its overarching story arc (Arak finding his people again). In fact, I think the later issues spent an inordinate amount of time re-exploring the Arabian nights when getting to the end of the story should have taken precedence. Not that there’s anything wrong with Sinbad and Co., but those issues had a certain “fill-in” quality to them, despite being part of the regular storyline. Too many monsters of the month and not enough plot progression, perhaps? |
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