Archaia’s Bleedout: Review

Archaia’s newest graphic novel Bleedout is the best of both worlds for a geek like myself. Based on the popular MMORPG Crimecraft (from Vogster Entertainment), Bleedout refers to both the comic as well as the newest campaign available to CC players.

While the online game is still in beta mode, players can satiate their need for more CC and comic fans will find the Bleedout graphic novel packed with some of the hottest comic book talent.

Even if you’re not a gamer, Bleedout offers an introduction that provides enough information on Sunrise City, the basis of the story. The world has been thrust into a post-apocalyptic crisis after expiring the earth’s entire oil supply (i.e., a “bleedout”) and for Sunrise City that means mob “don” Nunzio Bianchi running an extensive crime syndicate (known as The Scorpion Chamber) that controls the entirety of the city.

Containing stories that focus on the separate corrupt entities of The Scorpion Chamber, Bleedout is divided up into 10 “Episodes” that interweave to reveal the different levels available within the MMORPG. Still, even devoid of knowledge of the gameplay, readers will find that former Aeon Flux writer Mike Kennedy describes a vast and dense underworld where anything goes.

And the most hardcore comic fanboys would be remiss for not checking out the artists of Bleedout; each episode has a different illustrator from Glenn Fabry to Ben Templesmith to Howard Chaykin… not to mention cover artist Tim Bradstreet! Whew!

Come for the explosive talent, stay for the epic ride that is Bleedout. The comic drops today, May 11th. Pick it up at your LCS or Amazon. Snatch it up before it’s gone just like the oil in Sunrise City!