Supreme Blue Rose #1

By Warren Ellis & Tula Lotay

Warren Ellis is one of the greatest minds in comic books. Any time you pick up a book with his name on it there is a good chance you’ll be reading something far out that will have some science fiction thrown in there. This week, he and Tula Lotay deliver us Supreme Blue Rose.

The opening of this comic is very cool and mysterious. Ellis gives us a dream or vision involving the main character Diana Dane. Ellis paints a wonderful picture in the vision and Diana wakes up to her crummy city life. The contrast between the two is great, as one place seems to be where Diana wants to be and the other is merely where she is. From there Ellis introduces us to Darius Dax, who is an interesting character and essentially the best there is at what he does, which is being the best secret man there is. Ellis paints Dax as a charismatic character that you could like from the moment you meet him. Dax hires Diana to find out a big truth for him, but she won’t be alone, she’ll be followed and watched by an odd character named Reuben who has an odd birth defect. Reuben is the most intriguing character Ellis shows us in this first issue as he seems unstable but likable. Ellis succeeds in introducing us to several new and interesting characters. All that being said, this is an odd issue that could lose some readers with how it’s written. Ellis is very good at his craft, but there is potential for readers to miss where Ellis is going with this.

The art duties on this issue fall to Tula Lotay. She opens up with a very nice and visually appealing dream sequence that has a woman walking up a staircase on the water. There is a lot to like in the first few pages as the tone and colors mesh really well. Lotay’s style is grainy and gritty, it almost looks as if the pages have been rotoscoped. Most of the book has lines through it that look like a kindergartener has gotten into it, which can be cool, but could also be distracting for certain readers. Lotay does a very good job on this issue as she takes some chances with her art and the colors.

Supreme Blue Rose is an interesting read this week. It can be confusing in some spots and may need a second read, but it’s a fresh book. Warren Ellis doesn’t disappoint very often and this title is off to a good start. The art of Tula Lotay is very stylistic and compliments the odd story. This is a pretty decent start to a book that will hopefully reveal more secrets and mysteries in the coming months.