Saint Germaine: Shadows Fall
Throughout my reading of indie comic books I have always taken a shine to those that had a darker edge to them or to a supernatural feeling and one of them that I found back in the day was Saint Germaine.
Now I wouldn’t have normally found this on the shelf at any Comic Book Store since there are a couple of things that I could see going against it for the “average” comic book reader.
The First is that it wasn’t from the big 2 or even the big 3 if you want to include Dark Horse in there.
The Second is the only colour on it is on the covers.
But I was lucky enough to have a store that some of the staff had similar interest to me and also if they had came across something I might be interested in they would put it aside for me to have a look when I would come in. This is how I was introduced to Saint Germaine from Caliber.
It was written by Gary Reed who also was the publisher at Caliber and the art was done by Vince Locke and it was like nothing I had seen before.
The idea behind the book was this:
An immortal being who has died 1,000 deaths, Saint Germaine has traversed the paths of mankind for untold years with his companion, Lilith. But Lilith’s disappearance and the perils of the modern world direct him to undertake a new quest – to surrender his immortality.
I know it’s not for everyone and it’s also a very indepth book but I just lapped it up whenever it would come out… which if I remember correctly was every other month if not every 3 – 4 months.
Now even tho I have this in issues I did come across it recently as I have previously stated on Free Comic Book Day and I’ve been reading it over the last few nights and as I do everything I was thinking about it back in the 90’s when it first came out is running back to me.
Also it seems to be one of those books you’ll always find in a discount bin since the style isn’t for everyone but if your into anything like it I’d go and pick it up…
How can you deny an Immortal who has always been seen around the events that end up changing part of the world for better of for worse.
As I’ve stated I love this book and wish there was a way for it to come back. The Trade I picked up came out from Image but I don’t know if there is still anything left to print from the series or if the creative team want to come back for more.
If I was to rate it I’d give it 6/7
One Response to “Saint Germaine: Shadows Fall”
Lord Shaper
Hey, thanks for the nice review. Someone sent me the link to this. A couple of things…
It’s Caliber…not Calibur (I know..the sword Excalibur throws everyone off…)
Saint Germaine was of course, originally released by Caliber and then collected by Image. The Image collection has the first four issues plus the one shot Restoration which completes the opening storyline. There is a second trade paperback called Saint Germaine: Tales of an Immortal which collects issues 5-8 plus the one shots of Man in the Iron Mask (with some Guy Davis art) and Casanova’s Lament. That came out from Transfuzion Publishing.
A comic length story also appeared in the last monthly issue of Negative Burn from Desperado Publishing dealing with Falstaff from Shakespeare’s plays. That story will be collected in another trade coming from Transfuzion which will also include the entire Magus storyline plus two new pieces, one featuring the Hunchback of Notre Dame and the other on Genghis Khan.
Saint Germaine is one of my favorite series to write as I can delve into the literary and historical worlds yet still keep it set in today’s world.
Again, thanks for the review.
Best,
Gary