Dave West has done it again.
Strange Times is drastically different from Wolfmen or Whatever Happened to the World’s Fastest Man?, but West has turned out another masterpiece with Book 1 of this ongoing series.
Strange Times is the finely woven tale of multiple characters who are united by fate through a series of extraordinary circumstances. There is no single hero, but rather a collection of individuals who each play a intricate role in a greater scheme. In other words; no one is more important than the other.
The story takes place in the Leyton City in 2102. (There is actually a city called “Layton” about 15 minutes from where I live.) Samuel Close is Leyton’s resident genius and time traveller. Jackson Clemens is an ex-boxer who owns a pub and talks with a rock. John Simmons and Simon Johns die each other’s deaths and Summer Field speaks with them postmortem. Jack Dawes is a cop…the list goes on and on. With the exception of a few characters, none of them know anything of each other until later on in the book when something fantastic and biblical happens to bring them together.
Amidst such a crazy plot, Dave West manages to make the reader feel completely comfortable with the situation. West has an uncanny gift for making extraordinary events and characters seem ordinary. Where that may seem like a derogatory statement, it’s really a compliment. You get a different feel from reading one of Dave’s books. If you pick up the latest comic written by Geoff Johns, you know that you’re in for a blatant story with almost brutal art. Not so with Dave West. He allows his story to unfold at it’s own pace, letting you settle in with each character and understand them intimately. Even though they may have special gifts, you relate to them. Then, as the story reaches the climax, you react to it as the characters would.
Dave’s art is fitting for the story. Originally a web-comic, West draws it as a comic strip, giving the reader a more casual vision and enhancing the overall feel of the story. The drawings are simple, but very well done.
The production of the book is outstanding. One of my favorite things about Accent UK trades and anthologies are the galleries found in the back of the books. West had Accent UK’s best contribute their visions of Strange Times’ characters to the gallery: Indio, Shane Oakley, Dave Hughes, Garen Ewing, Andy Bloor and many others. Andy Bloor also designed Strange Times for Accent UK.
As mentioned, Strange Times began as a web-comic and it is updated weekly by Dave West here:
http://www.accentukcomics.com/strangetimes/strangetimesI01p01.html
Don’t think you can get away with just reading this online though. There is a secret history of Mr. Rock and the stunning art gallery found only in the printed version.
I would highly recommend this hardback for anyone that is looking for a book that they can pick up and read over and over again. It is a solid investment for any collector.
For this and more by Dave West and Andy Bloor, visit:
I can’t WAIT to read this!
So I read this.
It really was incredible. The way that all these different and disparate people are connected is amazing – how Dave brings it all together…. man. Dave continues to blow my mind.
He really is one of my favorite writers, and I honestly do think it’s a shame that he’s not blowing minds on a much larger scale, like he deserves to. Can you imagine what he would do with some of the characters from the BIG 2 companies?!?! For the record, I don’t know if he’d even like to….. but I’d love to see what he’d come up with.
Anyways, I honestly can’t wait for volume 2. It ends on a real cliffhanger!
I think that Dave’s art is fantastic. It probably wouldn’t work for every story (like “Wolfmen” and “World’s Fastest Man”, for instance) but it works REALLY well for this. (It also worked very well for his stories I read in “Robots”) What is a quirky and endearing story is helped with his quirky and endearing art, perfectly.
Love it.
Ryan,
) I’m working on Strange Times Book 2, which will end the saga, and probably generate a spin off … ot two 
)
Thanks for the kind words … I’m really glad you enjoyed it as I’m never quite sure how this quirky little book is going to be received. You’re right about it not fitting every story I write … I did, for a very very short time, consider drawing Fastest Man myself but fortunately the world was saved that experience by Marleen stepping in
Spin offs! Sweet!