Steven T. Seagle and Kelley Jones' The Crusades (2001-2002)

[Hierocles]

Earlier today, I picked up issues #6-20 of The Crusades for about ten bucks. It got canceled after #20, so I'm only missing the first story arc; I don't have the "prequel" deluxe one shot either.

I didn't find much on the net as far as reviews/comments go. It does seem to get panned a lot, and it didn't sell too well...

I've only read a few issues thus far, and though I can see why many don't like it, it's still weird and interesting. Minimal development from issue to issue, but strange situations, and pretty extreme subtext...

Any thoughts on it?

[FanboyStranger]

It was actually a pretty good series once it got moving. Unfortunately, it really doesn't getting moving until after issue 10. The main character's-- Anna, was it?-- Greek mother added a lot of humor to the story, but by then I suppose it was too late. (I do remember Seagle saying upon the end that the book wasn't cancelled per se, but that he and Kelley Jones had told the story they had planned on.) A lot of the Vertigo series introduced in that relative time period suffered from slow starts, and only 100 Bullets made it.

[UniqueFrequency]

It was actually a pretty good series once it got moving. Unfortunately, it really doesn't getting moving until after issue 10. The main character's-- Anna, was it?-- Greek mother added a lot of humor to the story, but by then I suppose it was too late. (I do remember Seagle saying upon the end that the book wasn't cancelled per se, but that he and Kelley Jones had told the story they had planned on.) A lot of the Vertigo series introduced in that relative time period suffered from slow starts, and only 100 Bullets made it.

yeah i dropped it before or around issue 10. It was interesting, but seemed to be going nowhere. It's a shame it didn't really take off 'cause Seagle's a pretty good writer

[Hierocles]

(I do remember Seagle saying upon the end that the book wasn't cancelled per se, but that he and Kelley Jones had told the story they had planned on.)
Oops... my bad.

It was actually a pretty good series once it got moving. Unfortunately, it really doesn't getting moving until after issue 10.
Much of what I've read about the beginning of the series -- including your own comments -- don't really incite me to get the first 5 issues. I'll probably stay put with the lot I found (#6-20).

There's no doubt about it -- the series moves very, very slowly.

[MarkSullivan]

Oops... my bad.


Much of what I've read about the beginning of the series -- including your own comments -- don't really incite me to get the first 5 issues. I'll probably stay put with the lot I found (#6-20).

There's no doubt about it -- the series moves very, very slowly.
My experience was the opposite: I thought the series seemed to completely lose direction after the first big arc, like they hadn't really thought through what to do next. So I'd recommend the prequel and the early issues over the later ones.

[FanboyStranger]

My experience was the opposite: I thought the series seemed to completely lose direction after the first big arc, like they hadn't really thought through what to do next. So I'd recommend the prequel and the early issues over the later ones.

To each their own I guess. I found the first few issues to basically be a rehash of Urban Decree. The thing about The Crusades was that it was more of a character driven story than about plot. I guess that's why the first few issues really didn't do much for me. Once I got a more fleshed out sense of the characters, I began to like the book a lot more. Plus, as the end neared, the plot finally began to move, questions were answered, and Anna's mother showed up, which greatly added to my overall enjoyment of the series.

[FunkyGreenJerusalem]

It was actually a pretty good series once it got moving. Unfortunately, it really doesn't getting moving until after issue 10.

Outlaw Nation had the exact same problem.

The start was so slow that most people dropped it - yet around issue 10 or 11, the story really got kicked up a notch as all the characters came together, and the story got moving.

Which was a shame. I always thought if DC had put out a cheap collection of the first year, the series would have really taken off.

[ratzo]

The female lead's name was Venus.

Crusades had its moments, but it wasn't nearly as good as the superlative and highly underrated House of Secrets. In the beginning it looked like Anton - the Howard Stern-like radio talk show host - was gonna be the central character, but by the final story arc Venus was clearly center stage. I suspect STS may have run out of things to do with Anton, and one can tell he's more interested in Venus' story the further into the series one goes.

Thinking about the book again now, I think its problem was that it couldn't sustain itself for very long. The "is the Knight real or isn't he" dilemma could only go on for so long in a non-fantasy setting. And since the Knight wasn't Batman, there would inevitably come a time when he'd get caught. I think the idea of the Knight was more important - instantaneous eye-for-an-eye retribution in a so-called civilized society - than the Knight himself. How cool would it have been to watch that idea spread like a virus throughout San Francisco? And I don't necessarily mean having people running around dressed as knights, but to have them act on their vengeful impulses in the name of what they consider justice. The final arc seemed to begin to head in that direction, but if I were STS and I could continue with the book, I would've made it much more chaotic; really raise the stakes in a big way.

I've never liked Kelley Jones' art, but he was the perfect artist for a book like this - one that relies on over-the-top violence and hypersexualized imagery.

[FanboyStranger]

Outlaw Nation had the exact same problem.

The start was so slow that most people dropped it - yet around issue 10 or 11, the story really got kicked up a notch as all the characters came together, and the story got moving.

Which was a shame. I always thought if DC had put out a cheap collection of the first year, the series would have really taken off.

Totally agreed. I really liked Outlaw Nation, but it did take awhile to hit the ground running.

Similarly, Brubaker and Pleece's Deadenders. I'm not exactly sure why I stuck through the first few issues-- probably because I liked Scene of the Crime so much-- but once Beezer began to get around the city more, answers to all the questions began to appear, and the cast got fleshed out more, it became one of the books I looked most forward to every month. Those early issues did eventually get collected at least, and they read a lot better in one sitting. Hopefully, with Bru's elevated profile, the remainder of the series will get the trade treatment, because the ending, while rushed, was certainly a satisfactory send-off for a great series.

[FanboyStranger]

The female lead's name was Venus.

Crusades had its moments, but it wasn't nearly as good as the superlative and highly underrated House of Secrets. In the beginning it looked like Anton - the Howard Stern-like radio talk show host - was gonna be the central character, but by the final story arc Venus was clearly center stage. I suspect STS may have run out of things to do with Anton, and one can tell he's more interested in Venus' story the further into the series one goes.

Thinking about the book again now, I think its problem was that it couldn't sustain itself for very long. The "is the Knight real or isn't he" dilemma could only go on for so long in a non-fantasy setting. And since the Knight wasn't Batman, there would inevitably come a time when he'd get caught. I think the idea of the Knight was more important - instantaneous eye-for-an-eye retribution in a so-called civilized society - than the Knight himself. How cool would it have been to watch that idea spread like a virus throughout San Francisco? And I don't necessarily mean having people running around dressed as knights, but to have them act on their vengeful impulses in the name of what they consider justice. The final arc seemed to begin to head in that direction, but if I were STS and I could continue with the book, I would've made it much more chaotic; really raise the stakes in a big way.

I've never liked Kelley Jones' art, but he was the perfect artist for a book like this - one that relies on over-the-top violence and hypersexualized imagery.

Venus! That's her name! I have no idea why I kept thinking her name was Anna.

Yeah, Venus was certainly the most interesting part of the Crusades, but by the end, I found all the characters were pretty interesting, except, as you called it, the Knight. Once his secret was out, it didn't seem like such a big deal.

And House of Secrets is one of Vertigo's best. It's sort of gotten lost in the shuffle of the Sandman, Preacher, Invisibles, Transmet holy rhombus of the 1990s.