2732

First off, I gotta highlight artist Mario Alberti's absolutely gorgeous artwork throughout this volume. Because, first of all, it's stunning. Second, it's what kept me going.

Here's the weird thing. The first half of the story, involving the jazz guitarist, while complex and convoluted, was exceptionally well-written and thought-provoking.

Okay, well, let me put one disclaimer on that. The initial set-up? Leviathan pulling all these people together and giving them the mission? You're asking a lot of a reader's suspension of disbelief. That's all I'll say about that.

But the second half? Involving the devil's mirror? The convolutions began to resemble the minotaur's maze mentioned in the story, and, while thought-provoking, it literally felt like either the odd informational panel, or perhaps entire pages, were missing. The story was choppy and, due to the complexity of all the moving parts, it really needed to be smooth.

I simply could not follow the through-line of the second story at all. I didn't get it. And I hate to admit that, but it's true. So, yes, it was Alberti's art that saw me through it.

For all that Dimitri is incredible at pulling together myriad disparate strings to weave a story, and I'd absolutely read more of his work. ( )