Title: Cintara
Volume(s): ?
Creator(s): JAYMES
Format: Unflipped; Left-to-Right
Publisher: Femme Fatale Studios
MSRP: ?
Genre(s): Drama/Action
Rated: Older Teen (16+)

 

 

When I started to read "Cintara" I honestly didn't know what to expect from it. "Cintara" was a brand new mini-series that was not spun off from some popular franchise, it came from a studio that I had never heard about before, and written by someone I had also never heard about. I have nothing against trying out new things, but people tend to be a little hesitant on reading something they haven't heard a great deal of things about (Good or bad). Luckily I walked away from "Cintara" surprised by the whole thing. The story starts out with narration by the star of the story; Cindy Tara (I'll give you all a minute to think about that name). The story goes that Cindy went to see a man named Dr. Pure, who is doing a science experiment on freezing people in a way where they won't die, but they can stay alive without aging, or having any brain activity. The process is apparently being developed as a way to revive people who die too young or something like that, and Cindy sign's her son and herself up for this experiment, for reason's that are not 100% clear right away, but do become clear later on.

One thing that is clear however (Thanks to the narration balloons) is that Cindy at one point started hating Dr. Pure, and vows that if she ever see's him again she'll kill him. This is established very early on in the story, and it will become important later on. After the introduction is set on what’s going to happen later on in the story we get to see Cindy's personal life in action. In her personal life Cindy doesn't get along with people very easily. She's a cop, she loves to eat yogurt (Even on a cold day), and it honestly doesn't feel like she likes anyone. We find out that the reason she doesn't get along with anyone is because three years ago her son died, and she's blamed herself for his death every day since then. Her social life also went down the drain when her son died too, and people who used to get along with her find themselves resenting her now. Shortly after we learn this, she and her partner Gregor get called in to look into something that's happening down at the dock. They go there only to be assaulted by a crazy homeless guy with a gun (Well maybe he just looked homeless).

I'd like to report that Gregor and Cindy were able to take the guy down, but unfortunately they don't...that is, they don't without a price. Both Greg and Cindy get shot, we don't find out what happened to Greg yet, but we do know that Cindy gets shot in the eye and falls into the freezing water. When they pull her out she is still alive, but just barely, so the medical team rush to save her life. However they are interrupted by Dr. Pure who reveals the reason WHY she was able to survive all this (Because personally, I would rather die after going through all that)! Because of a state-of-the-art chip that Dr. Pure implants all of his patients with, all his patients have their own little life support device in their neck (In case they die). And with that said he thanks the doctor for his time and takes Cindy with him to his lab to freeze her. However because of this new life and death complication that has occurred, Dr. Pure has to do something else with her since the freezing process would be useless. So instead of freezing her, he makes it so that a machine just keeps her brain alive, and breaks the news that she'll be alive (And awake) for the next 1000 years (Ok, at this point I'd want to kill Pure too). And after he finish's that, he then turns around and puts himself to sleep for 500 years. And thus the journey begins. The cover of this series would have you believe that this was a pure action title, that there was going to be a lot of butt kicking action taking place in this series. This is only half true.

This story is actually half action story and half character study. This series takes these two genre's (Or whatever you want to call them) and blends them together to make a thoroughly enjoyable story. You do care about these characters, you care about the situations they get into, and you become involved in their plight until the end. Another thing that you love about the characters is the fact that many of them are three dimensional. I don't want to give too much of the story away, but there was one character who starts out as a heartless villain, and you honestly think this person is selfish and rotten to the core, however later on in the series that same person turns out to be a much nicer person that you originally thought he was. Other characters like that also three dimensional, where you think they are either good or bad, and then when you get to know the character better you find out that they are either the opposite of what you thought they were, or their a little of both. Plus the is actually very deep for a mini-series, and takes a few twists that caught me totally off guard. And I'm not talking about the "I didn't see that coming" kind of twist, I'm talking about the wide eyed, jaw on the floor, drool falling out "Whoa! I didn't see THAT coming" kind of story twists!

Since I can't talk too much about the story without giving away spoilers I'll touch on the art for a minute. The art in this series is pretty good. It doesn't stand out above titles that offer truly unique drawings (Like "Shaman King" and "Thriller" does), but the artwork is still good none-the-less. It gets the job done, and it works very well. In the end I think "Cintara" is one of the most surprising series of the year. It's got an interesting story, great three dimensional characters, and it's coming from a company that most people most likely haven't heard of (At the time of this writing anyway). In short, chances are that if you love great comic book stories then you will love "Cintara." Its got that great blend of action and drama that anyone can get into it. If any of JAYMES future projects turn out just as good, or better then this series, then we may be looking at the next Frank Miller or Todd McFarlane! However regardless what the future holds for JAYMES and his company, people owe it to themselves to give "Cintara" a try.

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -

Note: Since this is an advance review the information above is not final as of this moment. When information becomes more final the information above will be updated accordingly. However I can tell you that the first issue of "Cintara" will be on the shelves of comic book stores in May 2004 and will retail for $3.50.