Nuklear Age

Rating:
Summary: Great first novel!
Review: Despite the random spelling errors that don't make sense, the book was absolutely amazing.

I will agree with the "Apology:" I hate him at the end. If he had been there sitting in the room, I probably would have popped his testicles with a sharp object... but he wasn't so the better for him. I think this is what really made the book fantastic though - despite the 'zaniness' we actually come to care about the characters in spite of their obvious categorization.

So, in short, good job. I look forward to another Clevinger work and would recommend this to anyone who has a soft spot for comics books.

Rating:
Summary: Keep your internet job, Brian.
Review: Do you think Scotsmen are inherently HILARIOUS? Are you familiar with "Dragon Ball Z" and would be interested in seeing it in prose? Buy this book.


No, I'm lying, I'm just making fun of it, it's an awful book. The characters are ridiculous. Nuclear Man is an idiot, which of course is intended for comic effect, but every joke is nothing more than "Nuklear Man is an idiot", which gets old very quickly. Atomik Lad, the everyman character we're supposed to identify with, is flat and boring, and just because he freaks out at everything Nuke does doesn't make him a good straight man. The other characters are similarly bland or one-joke types.

The first 350 pages are mostly comedy with no real storyline, but a villain emerges shortly thereafter, only to be defeated in a couple dozen pages and totally forgotten and replaced by another to end the book. This may seem to make sense given the author's claim (written as an aside before the story) that the book is in an episodic format, like the comic books it's based on, but that's both untrue (almost every chapter flow right into the next, like in every other novel) and little more than an excuse for a rambling, unfocused, poorly edited narrative. He didn't have enough material in a single storyline for a book, so he just jammed whatever together to make THIS.

The final two-thirds of the book are dominated by Big Fights with the main villains, but each of them is resolved solely through Nuklear Man yelling a lot and using MORE POWER (!!) against them until they fall. It's not much of a spoiler to say that the final villain is defeated when Nuklear Man shoots him with a big energy beam.

It's expensive, too. $33, and it's not hardcover or anything. If it weren't so long due to bad writing, maybe it'd be a bit more reasonably priced.

Nuklear Age is based on the American tradition of the superhero comic book, but and maybe that explains a lot, because they always were for ten year-old boys.

Rating:
Summary: Nifty Overall, But A Few Warnings Are Needed
Review: Don't let the three stars fools you, "Nuklear Age" is a nice fantasy joyride. It comes across like some hybrid of DBZ and Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. If you enjoy 8-bit humor, then the gags will have you trying to hold your sides together while your guts spill out through your fingers. The episodic pacing is also a good feature, allowing you to tackle the story issue by issue like you would a comic book, only without that grating month long wait in between adventures. You'll probably end up reading it straight through though; the story is gripping. Then there's the Deathly Neon-Yellow that infests the book cover. Even the smallest reflection of light off of it can stun adults at fifty paces. The sheer mass also makes the book a handy substitute cudgel in a tight spot.

So...why three stars? It's because I'm taking a holistic approach. Everything but the last 73 pages is four to five star material, even with the presence of a few annoying misspellings and missed words in high-tension moments. But those last 73 pages...

I'm not going to give any spoilers away. I'm just going to give you a warning: The End is Not Funny. In fact, it's so incredibly not funny that Brian felt obliged to tack on an apology to explain himself. I won't spoil that either, except to give another warning. After calmly reading through his reasoning for doing what he did, you will most likely come to the inevitable conclusion that what you had previously thought to be not funny is, in fact, infinitely more not funny than you would have ever thought possible. I mean even with the aid of medications that are only legal in really laid back Third World countries. The worst part is that none of it seemed necessary, like it was all done for the express purpose of screwing with the reader rather than advancing the story. It's a little too real; I suppose that's why it hits like it does. If you're into that kind of thing you'll love it to death, but I was left feeling like I'd been cheated.

I may have said too much already by pointing this out, but I think it's only fair to be forewarned. Had I known beforehand, I wouldn't have paid extra to get the thing shipped to me so quickly. I might've even waited for a used copy to surface. "Nuklear Age" is a good read, but you can wait a few extra weeks before diving into it.


Rating:
Summary: Let's make this simple
Review: Forget 8 bit theatre. Forget everyone who says this book starts slow. Here is the bottom line: if you have ever at any time read comic books, and would like to read a parody of them, get this book. It's funny. Clevinger has a unique style that is not yet fully developed, but still delivers an entertaining read. The jokes are funny, the characters are lovable, the story is worth following, and the book itself is paced very well. If you have the ability to picture a comic book world in your mind's eye, you will enjoy Nuklear Age.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond Words
Review: I am an avid reader, i have read all kind of books, Harry Potter series, Hex Trilogy, Famous Five series, the list goes on, and this is by far the most interesting book, in my opinion, that i have ever read.

For all those who know of Brian's webcomic, 8-Bit Theater, you know he has a talent for comedy, and that is evident in the first half of this book, there isn't a chapter that doesn't have some kind of joke or comedic moment present. I realise that everyone's views on comedy differ but i feel anyone can appreciate this, if comedy isn't your thing then don't worry, because the second half of the book starts to get serious, the jokes start to die out a bit, they are still funny, but you can start to appreciate it as a book and not a joke, it made me feel a wide variety emotions, i laughed, cried from laughter, laughed some more, then i started to cry again, though not from laughter and i will not say why here, i will not ruin one of the best bits for all of those who will buy this book. But the variety of styles is just one of the things you'll love once you've bought this book.

Thank you Mr.Clevinger for being the first author to be able to not only make me laugh out so loud my entire class though i was insane, but to be able to have something that made me cry, Something a book has never been able to do before now.

Rating:
Summary: funny, but NEEDS AN EDITOR!!!
Review: I cannot stress this enough, the book is hysterical but seriously needs an editor. I don't know if iUniverse provides one but is just fantastically poor at editing or what, but this book needs an editor the way most people need air to breathe.

There are a number of reasons for this:

1. An editor would have taken out all the jokes that were outright stolen from the Simpsons. ("Who did what with the what now?")

2. An editor would have taken out Mr. Clevinger's excessive colons that are all across this book. Everything is a Danger: Living Room, or Scientific: Calculator or Evil: Crosshairs. None of those things should have colons in them. Not one. They're EVERYWHERE in the book.

3. An editor would have suggested recycling fewer jokes. Mr. Clevinger is hysterical. I love 8bt, but this book is differently funny with different jokes and I love them. But any joke you enjoyed (except, thus far, the best joke of them all from the very first encounter in the book) will wind up being used again... and again ad infinitum in the book.

4. An editor might have suggested splitting the book up. Dunno if it would have been for the best, but this thing really rambles. It has a caveat explaining the episodic nature of the book, and that's cool, but tv shows are episodic and comic books are episodic, but neither of those come in one humongous shot like this. The only other episodic thing I can think of that comes in one massive tome are epic poems, which this bares no resemblance to. There are whole storylines in this book that complete by page 300. Multiple books were good enough for Douglas Adams, (an obvious influence on Clevinger, and rightly so.) so why not Brian Clevinger?

4. Gr@mmar Mistekas. Evary pAge. and Mori then Just 1ne. It is the most jarring thing in the world. I'm talking thousands of spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes in the book, and I'm not exaggerating.

5. An editor would have written the following note to Mr. Clevinger. "The midget samurai is racist. We should take him out entirely." I don't know if anything would have come of it, but the note needed to be written.

6. It just needs to be trimmed, man! I mean, there are dead sections with no funny for pages. They're MORE than made up for by the impending funny, of course, but it's dead weight in an already obese tome.

Either way, the book is amazing. I think it's funny and original and I love it. The above flaws are flaws with his publisher more than anything else, and I don't intend to penalize the book too much because of it.

I hope this book is a huge success for him, but that he uses that success to get published by a real publisher, next time, rather that using the success to insist that POD internet publishers are the way to go.

Rating:
Summary: Wow.. Yeah. Wow.
Review: I just finished reading 'Nuklear Age' yesterday. First off, whether you like 8-Bit or not really hasn't got a whole lot to do with whether or not you'll like the book. The two aren't related except in that they spring from the same mind and have a few stylistic bits in common. Ideally, 'Nuklear Age' should be taken all on its own.

Yes, it's about superheroes. Yes, it's comedy. No, it doesn't stop at that. There's that old saying about still waters that applies here - 'Nuklear Age' is considerably deeper than its surface would suggest. It's funny, it's deep, it made me laugh until I cried, then laugh more.

I recommend giving this book a shot. Sure, it might start a tad slow, but it picks up quick, and sucks you in. Perhaps it could use a bit more polish, but all in all, it's a more than worthy first expedition.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting at first, then...
Review: I was interested in this book for the first few chapters, then found myself not really wanting to continue. The story and its humor just didn't do it for me.

Rating:
Summary: Damn mortal body needing sleep...
Review: There is a reason that I chose that as a title and it isn't anything to do with me being slightly (as in slightly less that infinitly) insane. The reason is to do with the pure pleasure I was recieving from reading this book that I abandoned college (ok, so it may not of been because of the book, but it happened), all social life and even read it at work (which almost got my ass fired) and if it wasn't due to a weak human body that needs an eternity of sleep then my life would have been consumed by this book. I don't want to spoil the book for future readers but I strongly suggest you look past the price as it was one of the best books I have ever read! Also, i recently read on 8-Bit Theatre (Brian's webcomic) that mainstream publisher's said this book wouldn't sell. I would like to take this opportunity to laugh relentlessly as the stupidity of these people. There isn't a target market that this book doesn't reach, but find that out for yourselves. For Brian, who keeps the child in us alive!

Rating:
Summary: Huh.
Review: Yeah, ummm. Well. I liked it. I think. Now I'm an 8-bit theatre fan, so I bought the book, and I read it, and.... Huh. It was okay. Maybe it should have been a comic book. I really don't think Clevinger's style translates well into print. He tries too hard to describe physical comedy, such that it becomes... not funny. And then the end, was something... I feel tricked. I am not satisfied. Even so, this could be a 3 or 4 star book, without the gratuitous typos and with an 8-buck price tag. Oh well. Some parts were really funny, but overall needed more spit'n'polish before being released to the public.