Microsoft comic book 'The Lost Ones' better off not found

From Microsoft Subnet editor Julie Bort: Earlier this month, Zune Arts released an online comic book series called "The Lost Ones." Zune is Microsoft's brand name for its collection of interactive entertainment offerings (the most famous of which is the Zune MP3 player). I asked my brother, Steven Goldstein, to review the comic book for the Microsoft Subnet blog. Steven is not only a long-time comic book collector, a graphic artist and photographer, but is also a member of a secret society called the "Dark Ones" that he won't really tell me much about. (I know it involves DarkCon, the gaming convention in Phoenix that Steve organizes each year.) All of which makes him the perfect choice to offer feedback on "The Lost Ones."

But first a bit of background. This online graphic novel was a compilation, with multiple artists each contributing a chapter. It was produced by Steve Niles (author of 30 Days of Night") and graphic artist Dr. Revolt, punk art dude Gary Panter, fashion designer Kime Buzzelli and the design team Morning Breath, Zune Arts says. Here is the guest blog written by Steve:

I just finished reading The Lost Ones and the first thing that comes to mind is: meh. Which is odd because I don't normally use that word. But in my opinion it's befitting of this work.

Like so many others, I got hooked on comics as a kid. The first titles I collected were the Spider-Man books. All of them. (Amazing Spider-Man, Peter Parker the Spectacular Spider-Man, and any Marvel cross-over titles with Spidey would all find their way into my hot little hands!) The feel of the flimsy little magazine was as much a part of the comics experience as learning to love the heroes and villains and other characters who lived in their worlds. And reading a comic book was not easy! It involved doing everything you could to keep the book in pristine condition while still turning the pages and folding open the cover, holding the book in one hand while the other held a cheeseburger.

So with that said, it was really hard for me to get interested in an online graphic novel. I mean, using a mouse to flip the pages just ain't the same as having to lick your fingertip to get the paper pages to separate! But to each his own, I suppose. I can't expect the ingrained experiences of my youth to have any effect on the youth of today who have more experience interacting with a computer screen than they do with holding the art in their own hands as they read.

So let's not talk about that any more. Instead let me talk a little about character. It is character that makes or breaks a novel, be it graphic or text only -- character development to be more specific. And in The Lost Ones ... character development was left behind, as was a solid plot. I simply was not emotionally involved in the story or with the characters. In truth I wasn't a fan of most of the artwork either. Chapter One was fine. But the styles of the subsequent chapters was incredibly distracting to me. In Chapter Two, the story appeared to have been drawn over the pages of an old pulp magazine. And somehow the characters were aware of this...? I know that the concept of having multiple artists contributing chapters in their own style is not new. But this offering just didn't mesh for me. The speculative fiction plot twist of how time travel works seems overly contrived as well. Overall, I would have to say that the next time I get a craving for comics, I have a whole closet full of them to chose from.

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• Microsoft
• comics
• The Lost Ones
• zune
• Zune Arts