Still on the Shelf #25 - Dawn - Three Tiers

Originally published September 16th, 2003 on www.ComiXtreme.com. This work is, of course, © Craig Reade.

After several weeks of planned columns, I found myself this week with nothing immediate in mind for this week’s Still on the Shelf. I went to my comic shop to remedy this situation, and had a conversation with the owner, and asked what kind of book he recommended. What he suggested came as something of a surprise to me.

I don’t normally cover minis, but I thought I would give Dawn: Three Tiers a shot this week. So, without any further ado-

Cast of Characters

Dawn- Although she is the “title” character of this series, she has had very little page time to this point. From what I could glean from some outside research, Dawn is the Goddess of Life. When she was quite young, the Horned God Cernunnos fell in love with her. He showed her the whole of Heaven, Hell, Life, and Death, and this made her cry. Those tears scarred, and continue to scar her face. They are symbolic of his love for her and a reminder of her lost innocence. Though they are lovers, their opposite nature (Cernunnos is the Lord of Death), they can rarely come together.

Darrian Ashoka is described by Dawn as a Slayer of Demons and a Murderer of Angels. I know little of him from previous Dawn series, but from Three Tiers (and some fan-site research); I have gleaned that he is Dawn’s mortal lover, and the reincarnation of Cernunnos. As Darrian, he remembers nothing of his life as the Lord of Death, but he does feel inexplicably drawn to Dawn to a point of obsession. In Three Tiers, Darrian wanders the world in search of both meaning to his own life, and Dawn.

Thoughts

Joseph Michael Linsner created Dawn, and both draws and writes this current series. There is a definite, rabid cult following of this book. To quote one fan-site, “Dawn is a phenomenal comic book (although that never seems to sum it up right) and art collection…” Fans see Dawn as an amazing fantasy-romance with nothing short of stellar, breathtaking art. Detractors have described the Dawn series as yet another fan-boy T&A title. Personally, I can find no reason to agree with either side.

Aside from the two current issues of Dawn: Three Tiers, I have only seen a couple of previous Dawn issues. Regardless, I already feel as if I have seen enough of this title to form an opinion. The art is certainly decent, but I would stop far short of proclaiming it great. There is a bit of a T&A factor, but it is certainly not to the degree of a Danger Girl or Fathom. The story so far is a real let down. It revolves around Darrian relating his tale to a prostitute in a bar. The tale itself is little more than incoherant rambling. Inconsequential event after event unfolds, each event having little to no connection to the last. All the while, Darrian pines over Dawn constantly. If there is anything that will bore me in a story right away, it is the character of the unbeatable hero who laments constantly over a love love. There is really little that is interesting about that in my opinion.

Fans of this series describe it as artistic and deeply meaningful, but if Dawn: Three Tiers is any indication, it is anything but. There is no doubt that Linsner intends to be meaningful and symbolic in his storytelling, but to me it seemed to be nothing more than a superficial cop-out. Aside from the very basic fundamental symbolism of Death vs. Life, and the tears on Dawn’s face, every other piece of attempted symbolism seems pretended. Dawn: Three Tiers relies so heavily on that alleged symbolism that Linsner spends the entire time introducing, and subsequently explaining his symbols; all the while completely neglecting the story. To me, a truly symbolic tale starts with a strong story, and the unexplained symbolism only serves to enhance that. Linsner seems to completely miss that in this telling.

Bottom Line

As highly as this title was praised, in the end, it left me somewhat uninspired. Fans of previous Dawn titles will undoubtably enjoy Three Tiers. Unfortunately, this mini has nothing to offer new readers. Aside from a completely random and somewhat gratuitous sex scene at the beginning of issue 1, I had no idea whatsoever why Dawn was “in love” with Darrian, or why they had a connection of any kind. Every important aspect of this series almost requires knowledge of prior Dawn series, and the amount of research needed for a new reader to understand a relatively uninteresting story really is not worth it.

Dawn: Three Tiers (scheduled for 6 issues) #1 and 2 are both available in stores right now. #3 is due out in November.

Starting in October, I am going to spend a month at a time looking at some key titles for a particular publisher, in an effort to look at the larger picture of the comic market as a whole. October’s Still on the Shelf will feature “CrossGen Month,” and the titles for those four columns are all set. Beyond that, there may be an “Image Month,” and for that I need your help. I do not personally read many Image titles, and thus far, it has been underrepresented in this column. I have not spoken very highly about Dawn, and I feel that it is not necessarily representative of the work that Image produces. So all of you Image fans (any imprint), please do let me know which titles you feel are best examples of what Image puts out, and deserve some extra attention!