GRAPHIC NOVEL
Global Frequency
Planet Ablaze

Author: Warren Ellis
Artists: Various
Titan Books
RRP: £12.99
ISBN 1 84023 849 6
Available 21 May 2004


Global Frequency is a worldwide rescue organisation that offers the last shred of hope when all other options have failed. Manned by 1001 operatives, the Frequency is made up of experts in fields as diverse as Bio-weapon engineering and Le Parkour Running. Each agent - equipped with a special mobile vid-phone that keeps them in constant communication with Aleph, the hyper-responsive nexus in the central GF hub - is specifically chosen by Miranda Zero, enigmatic leader of the GF, based on proximity, expertise and, in some cases, sheer desperation...

Planet Ablaze is a collection of short stories based around the world of the Global Frequency. Obviously this is an organisation that must be recruiting heavily because it would appear that while all of the missions are a success, it is usually at the expense of the lives of those that are called out.

Told here in bite-size pieces, it's a wonder that the reader manages to relate to any of the characters. But we have Warren Ellis's skill as a writer to thank for that.

The art work varies from Jon J Muth's crude, yet eerie renderings, to the wonderful world of Steve Dillon (a personal favourite of mine thanks to his time on 2000AD's Tyranny Rex and Harlem Heroes, to name two).

If you are looking for something a little different to sink your teeth into, you could do a lot worse than this. Well scripted and beautifully illustrated, Planet Ablaze offers plenty - even if the majority of the stories end in a similar, predictable fashion.

Ray Thompson

Buy this item online
We compare prices online so you get the cheapest deal! Click on the logo of the desired store below to purchase this item.


£9.09 (Amazon.co.uk)
   
£12.99 (WHSmith.co.uk)

All prices correct at time of going to press.