The creator of this comic has been accused of plagiarizing Bleach, and a number of other Maga properties. Please see here

Incarnate is a three issue mini-series written by Nick Simmons of… well nothing really. He just happens to be the son of Gene Simmons and incidentally features in the Simmons family reality show ‘Family Jewels’. I’ve caught the show a few times, but I’m not what you would call an avid viewer. The show is sort of like ‘The Osbournes’ but with far less stupidity… and his daughter is also gorgeous, which is a definite bonus

When Radical sent me a review copy of this debut issue, the comic snob in me dismissed it out of hand, and I just put it aside. I’ve become a little cynical about “cross-over artists” coming straight into paid gigs in the comic industry, without having to slog their guts out proving themselves on small titles first. However, if someone like Gerard Way, whose music I despise, can create a comic series as amazing as Umbrella Academy, I guess anything is possible!  Radical Comics have never failed me before, and have published some truly fantastic comics such as Hercules, City of Dust, Shrapnel, and Hotwire. I have loved each of these series, and I am looking forward to all of Radical’s other upcoming series, such as FVZA: The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency, so I thought I should at least give Incarnate a chance. I have to admit, I was a actually pleasantly surprised by this “American Manga” comic. I was also surprised to find out that not only did Simmons write this story, he actually drew it too, and he’s a pretty bloody talented artist!

The protagonist of this story is an ancient vampire named Mott, who at the beginning of the issue is reborn after decades of death-like slumber. He is reawaken in a dark city alleyway, in the guise of naked teenager that looks not unlike Nick Simmons himself (something for the ladies!). His first act upon reawakening, is to kill and devour a hobo, in order to regain his strength, he then loots his corpse in order to gain modern clothing to help him blend in to the city crowds. As soon as he gets his bearings, he ascertains that something is amiss in the city, and so he hunts down the last vampire that he converted, a man named Conner, who he finds busily mutilating some innocent corpses. After some posturing, Mott recruits Conner to help him find out what is so wrong in the city, and Mott leads them both to a seemingly abandoned warehouse in a dilapidated part of town. Within, they meet Ripley, the leader of a rag-tag group of revenants, or “forgotten gods.” Ripley has called this meeting of monsters and demons because it appears that a human cult, led by a man named Soloman Vane, have discovered a way to hurt and kill the revenants. Mott finds this suggestion to be ridiculous, claiming that it is impossible to hurt him, because he is immortal… just then, a bullet from a sniper’s riffle flies through the window, and plunges into the brain of a ‘grundy’ style monster called Blight. The human forces then invade the warehouse, and there is lots of killing, destruction and banter, leading to a grand showdown between Mott and the leader of the human SWAT team, a mysterious old man named Vincent.

That is about all the plot that he get for this first issue, which mostly seems to be set-up for things to come. The comic seems to have a pretty decent concept that, whilst not particularly deep, is still rather fun and quite entertaining. I think that the plot of the issue could have done with a little less of various characters posturing and sizing each other up, and would have been better focusing a bit more on the ancient conspiracy that has been plotting to destroy the revenants for so many years. As it is, that part of the story is crammed into just one page, which leaves it feeling hollow, and a bit of an afterthought.

I found the amount of exposition in the story to be a little over the top, and in places it was quite unnecessary. Some of the character monologue felt a bit forced, and at times a bit verbose. A much stronger editorial hand would not have gone amiss. The dialogue is… interesting… sometimes it is decent, but in other places it is just poor, for example:

Conner: You!!!
Mott: Me.
Conner: Why did you shoot me in the face?!?
Mott: Because you’re ugly
Conner: …What? What the hell is your problem?!
Mott: Well, I had a very traumatising childhood – -

The blurb for the comic labels it as an “American Manga”, but the dialogue feels more like Simmons is trying to emulate the kitsch American overdubs of the original Japanese that you find on lots of modern anime. I could have done without that.

Where Simmons really shines though is on the artwork. I was rather impressed with his pencilling skills on this book, and he definitely has some real talent! The look he is affecting here is stylized manga, as is the nature of the comic, but it also reminded me a little of Paul Duffield’s art on the earlier issues of FreakAngels. Definitely some good work from such a young artist, who hasn’t yet had time to hone his skills, and perfect his art style!

I hope none of the above sounds too negative, as this is certainly a fantastic first effort for Nick Simmons. The book is definitely not for everyone, but I think it will sell very well in the teen/tween emo scene, especially amongst Simmons’ fans, or fans of movies such as Twilight. Simmons’ art on the book is really impressive, and the concept of the book was decent, but I think the story would have flowed a lot better if he had worked together with a co-writer to hammer out a better script. The script itself wasn’t *that* bad, but it felt a little overly stylized, like it was trying too hard to be manga, rather than just *being* manga. Don’t let that put you off though, as this is a decent book, and a very entertaining read!

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