Rating: 
Summary: A slice of heaven in a town called 'Turlock'
Review: Light in fun, heavy in coolness, with just the right amount of theology and philosophy, "Creature Tech" sticks to you like fresh velcro. TenNapel's originally absurd ideas composite a fast paced story of mystery, denial, discovery, love, and above all..... a mantid named 'Blue.' The characters, very animated in nature and perhaps unbelievable in design, go straight to the heart to create an unforgettable tale.
Rating:
Summary: The best graphic novel in years
Review: Many people use the term "graphic novel" to describe any book-bound edition of comic-style storytelling, including collections of individual issues from monthly comics. Personally, I prefer to differentiate between these collections and original books, but no matter what definition you use, Doug TenNapel's "Creature Tech" is one of the best graphic novels in years.The story stars Dr. Michael Ong, a former seminarian who abandoned his faith when he turned to science. Ong is the head of government facility charged with studying and cataloguing supernatural and alien artifacts and technology. What with one thing or another, Ong becomes bonded to a powerful alien symbiote and must use his new abilities to save the world from the ghost of a mad scientist who has a sinister plan involving the Shroud of Turin, a hand that can turn cats into demons, and a giant space eel. It if sounds silly, that's because the concept really is. TenNapel shows incredible skill, though, in taking elements that could be used to create a weird, slapstick story and injecting it with genuine heart, emotion and action. You feel for Ong, his pastor father, the disfigured girl he used to persecute as a child and even the giant insect assigned to him as a security guard of sorts. Every character in this book has a dash of humor and a healthy dose of humanity that makes this a really great read. The artwork is clean and effective, and the iconic style doesn't detract from the story at all. If anything, looking at the artwork makes you feel like you're actually reading the storyboards for a really great feature film that just hasn't been animated yet. Hopefully someone will pick up on this and make a movie very soon. TenNapel also leaves room for a sequel, or even a series, and I for one would welcome it. There's plenty of backstory left to tell and I find myself intensely curious about elements that he alludes to -- even shows in full -- but never really explains. I'll be on the lookout for more work from him in the future.
Rating:
Summary: The single best graphic novel I've ever read.
Review: See, now this is how I like to be preached to. This GN, written by Doug Tannapel (he created Earthworm Jim) is about faith, flying space eels, a guy who can turn cats into demons, the Shroud of Turin, a kung fu symbiote, a giant preying mantis who finds his own inner redneck, the Great Honey Bun of Christ, the Two Minute Meatman, and a top secret government laboratory that investigate paranormal objects. This feels like it's drawn by Bill Watterson, and it reads like it's written by his creation Calvin. It's simply wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: The single best graphic novel I've ever read.
Review: See, now this is how I like to be preached to. This GN, written by Doug Tannapel (he created Earthworm Jim) is about faith, flying space eels, a guy who can turn cats into demons, the Shroud of Turin, a kung fu symbiote, a giant preying mantis who finds his own inner redneck, the Great Honey Bun of Christ, the Two Minute Meatman, and a top secret government laboratory that investigate paranormal objects. This feels like it's drawn by Bill Watterson, and it reads like it's written by his creation Calvin. It's simply wonderful.
Rating:
Summary: Comic Greatness
Review: The art in this book gorgeous. The writing is really bizarre, and mostly hilarious. I read this in one sitting while waiting to catch a flight, and it was one of the most enjoyable reads I've ever had. This was definitely the best comic for my dollar in 2002. The complaint I hear most often about it though, is that it has christian themes. Well, yeah, the shroud of turin is a christian artifact, so by virtue of it being in the story, you'll have some christian themes. On top of that, the main character has faith issues to overcome, but so what? You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy a story about a Christian. It's a well done story, and despite my lack of religious faith, I found it quite enjoyable, and laugh out loud funny.
Rating:
Summary: Comic Greatness
Review: The art in this book gorgeous. The writing is really bizarre, and mostly hilarious. I read this in one sitting while waiting to catch a flight, and it was one of the most enjoyable reads I've ever had. This was definitely the best comic for my dollar in 2002. The complaint I hear most often about it though, is that it has christian themes. Well, yeah, the shroud of turin is a christian artifact, so by virtue of it being in the story, you'll have some christian themes. On top of that, the main character has faith issues to overcome, but so what? You don't have to be a Christian to enjoy a story about a Christian. It's a well done story, and despite my lack of religious faith, I found it quite enjoyable, and laugh out loud funny.
Rating:
Summary: It's good
Review: This book is complicated and difficult to classify. Kind of a comedy. Kind of an action story and very philosophical. I don't want to give anything away but everything gets bunched up into this giant knot at the end that is nothing short of mind blowing. This goes on my top 10 list for graphic novels. It was pretty hard to find so I'm glad it's finally available at Amazon.
Rating: 
Summary: A cautious recommendation
Review: This is a hard review to write. There's good news, and there's... other news. Here's the good news: Doug Tennapel is obviously still a creative genius. His ideas feel fresh and well executed, his characters are sharply defined and (for the most part) realistically rendered, his artwork is clean and engaging. The plot is madcap, the pace is frenetic, the jokes are thick, fast and furious. If this was all this book was, it would have been the best of the year, an out and out five star winner. Here's the other news: About halfway through, the book suddenly introduces a crazed Christian streak right out of left field, one that only increases in fervor until the whole thing crosses well over the line into outright preachy. For the most part this is inoffensive. The simple faith over hard science perspective, the sudden inexplicable conversions, and the fact that the main character only achieves acceptance in the eyes of his community and the girl he loves after he becomes pious... since I neither believe nor disbelieve in the Christian faith, I am unmoved either way by their inclusion. For better or for worse, it is impossible to consume ANY product of western culture without having a commentary on Christianity at SOME level. What really is unforgivable is that Tennapel becomes so consumed with pounding across his message that everything else is subsumed. The book ends not with a bang but with a wimper, without humor or impact, and it left me feeling unsatisfied and vaguely upset that someone hadn't mention that this was an overextended Jack Chick tribute on the back cover. Maybe I should of expected it - anyone who's read any of Tennapel's rants knows that he flies on the Right, way way out on the Right. But he always managed to keep it on the down low with his previous work. Whatever the case, the message COULD have been delivered with subtlety and grace. Instead, it was delivered with a cattle prod; or, more appropriately, with a tranquilizer gun, all of a sudden, from a long way off, by someone hidden in long grass. Nevertheless, it's worth a look, if only for the space eels and giant redneck insects.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant and graceful, comic and inspiring.
Review: This is one of the freshest, most original graphic novels to hit the market in recent years - and apparently, it is going into its third printing.
Which is great news for anyone who has had trouble getting their hands on this singularly entertaining and thought-provoking piece of work. The comic moments are laugh-out-loud funny, the pensive quiet moments really make you think. The connections between people and how we relate are deftly handled. The art is expressive and evocative, even though it's highly stylized in alot of places.
As for the exploration of Christian faith, I need to stridently disagree with those who felt that the elements were either (a) unnecessary, or (b) forced. For the particular story that TenNapel wanted to tell, these elements were non-separable. The whole point of the narrative was Ong's return to who he really was, not who he decided he should be as a result of youthful rebellion and stubbornness. And the elements were not at all forced - they were elegantly woven in, carefully made a necessary and impactive part of the story. It is not ludicrous for certain scenes to be present, if they're part of the narrative, which they are. For those who find themselves wary of the description of this story as being overly religious or Christian, it's really not.
Where we belong in the world is a question that isn't the property of a single faith. It's part of our story - even if our stories don't include demonic cats, alien symbiotes, and giant praying mantii. ;)
It's hysterically funny and lighthearted when it needs to be, and tender and pensive as well. Definitely worth a read - or 3.
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