2012: Final Prayer -- A Look at the End Times Anthology

One of my favorite ironies of life is that there is only ever truly one singular moment that we are truly living...birth. From the moment we take our first breath we have already transitioned from living to dying. Slowly but surely, the unavoidable inevitability begins to loom as we cry out in our primordial rage as we are pulled naked into a world which has only one true certainty. We -- are going to die.

So the idea that death is our greatest fear has always struck me as rather odd. Why fear the unavoidable? Why not embrace the possibility of another tomorrow? The monster that has become the prophecy of 2012 has left many people afraid of Armageddon. And Robert Heske has brought together a diverse group of writers, creators, and artist to tell the tales of the possibilities they see for our future.

We’ll be looking at each of these tales separately. As it would take far too much of the little time we have left before...well...total annihilation to discuss every single aspect of every single short, I will lay my primary focus on the execution of writing and mention the art for only a few of the shorts. I mean, it’s not like I have that much more time to write do I? As I write these words we are 1087 days, 3 hours, 26 minutes, and 49 seconds away from our ultimate demise. Or at least that’s what they tell me...

So without further ado, what better way to kick off the beginning of a new year, than with a look at book that talks about our ultimate end? Make sure you get your resolutions done quickly now... Happy 1st!

2012: Final Prayer: An End Times Anthology

Final Choices
Story & Art: Chris McJunkin

We kick off the anthology with a story which follows our narrator through a both physical and spiritual journey to our ultimate end. From what I could gather he was intended to represent some sort of life spirit of the Earth. While the story was good, I found it to be a bit preachy. The rhythm and tone of the language was very poetic, providing a slam poetry-esque feel to the reading experience.

The End of the World As We Know It
Story: Ollie Masters
Art/Lettering: Andy Fish

This story had so much potential that when the ending came about it was devastating to see that a bolder choice had not been made. I felt that the choice to show a monster at the end ruins the psychology of what the story could have, and in my opinion should have, been about. Writer’s at times fear leaving their readers hanging in suspense because the fear that it will be perceived as a failure on their end, that they could not draw the story to a definitive close. In this case, Masters had set the scene perfectly for a cliffhanger ending but decided to give the reader a glimpse of the beast and therefore sink all the depth that had been established. I had mixed feelings about the art in this story. The Drawn portions are wonderful but the PhotoShop work was rough and unappealing, in the future stick to pencils, you’re good at ‘em.

Seed Wind, Reap Storms
Story: Shawn Gabborin
Art/Lettering: Mario Cau

This was just another cliché story about an “Angel of Death and Carnage” watching over the Earth as it falls in upon itself. I found this story to be weak and uninspiring. The art, on the other hand, I really enjoyed. While it had its sloppy moments I felt that it fell within reason of being considered the artistic style. It’s clear that Cau has great admiration for Michael Turner.

Manchester
Story: Jim Alexander
Art/Lettering: Andrew Dodd

I really enjoyed the journey that this story takes the reader on. Manchester is truly a story about coming to terms with...well, specific to this case, the end of the world, but also with coming to terms with any life changing experiences one may face. Our feature character faces his end with grace even as everyone abandons him and what he finds is a peace they could only envy. The art is solid but doesn’t command any particular memory. Dodd does do a great job of showing the characters go blind, which is a daunting task when you are working in solely black and white.

2012: Apocalypse in Five Parts
Story: Shamere Borg, Xander Bennett
Art/Lettering: Melanie Cook

This is a mess of five separate stories that deal with five different experiences of how the world comes to its end. I found these stories to be weak and extremely shallow. The visual layout and structure serves as an attempted distraction to the lack of content that truly comprise the literary component. To be honest, it read to me like the writers had five ideas but had no idea of how to expand on any of them and create a story that a reader could connect with. On the other hand, Cook’s artwork is great.

Start Over
Story: Robert Heske
Art/Lettering: Adam Swiecki

I felt this story was really cool. It’s well-paced with a clever look and interpretation of some of the possible meaning behind the demise of humanity. The use of biblical references has a grace of subtlety in its blatantness, an oxymoron...I know, but it’s true. While the biblical reference is placed right in your face the ideology is never forced on the reader. It seems like any natural occurrence and its ability to not overly hype its command over the story is what makes it such a strong component within it. A good story and a smooth read.

Bird’s Eye View
Story: Arno Hurter
Art: David Edwards

Now this is how you write a 5/6 page story. There was so much depth and so much heart to this story that at the end of the sixth page you feel as though you’ve read a full 22-page comic. Hurter does an excellent job of pacing and just plain storytelling which truly provides for an engaging and memorable story. It would be a crime for me to spoil the plot in any way. Check this short out...you won’t be disappointed.

The Ends
Story: Christopher Barker
Art/Lettering: Marc Jameson

I would imagine that it would be a difficult task to follow Bird’s Eye View, but this story truly couldn’t even compete with its immediate predecessor. While it quite interestingly begins by showing the different ways in which a world can “end” -- whether it be a perceptual ending or an actual physical cessation of being -- the end of the story just seems to miss a beat and fails to pull all the pieces together to create a story that allows the reader to truly connect with the anything that went on within the few pages.

End of the World Party
Story: Craig Gilmore
Art/Lettering: Monty Borror

This was interesting. I really enjoyed how Gilmore sets you up to believe that either nothing at all is going to happen or something HUGE is going to happen. But the way in which death comes is not what you would necessarily expect. To further add to the story there is a twist ending which creates a comical moment between those who bring the end/“beginning” of the world.

Demented
Story: Robert Heske
Art/Lettering: Stephen Downey

Awesome story! This short is well-paced and structured wonderfully. The characters are extremely engaging which make the twist within the story that much more gripping. The “end” provides a very powerful question: What truly dictates the end of something, and how can we definitively grasp that end?

“When we lose our minds, nothing else exists.”

That line says it all...

The End is Near
Story: Rita Gorgoni
Art: Stefano Cardoselli
Lettering: David Paul

This is a wonderful piece to follow a story like Demented. Dementia can be dangerous, but within its very nature, I feel, it breeds more debility than violent intent. Delusion on the other hand is far more dangerous. Delusion, unlike dementia, cannot be calmed. This story is simple and the action brief, but the transcending message is clear and quite frightening. How many people will become this character in the face of possible extinction? The possibility, and I’d dare say probability, is a frightening thought. Gorgoni has a true mind for expressing the language of terror and Cardoselli’s chaotic artistry feeds the unsettling attraction readers have to horror.

Veils
Story: Adam Grose
Art/Lettering: Tony Suleri

I really can’t say that I dig this story. It is a tale that focuses on Lucifer’s return to Earth to bring even more “truths” to the people, but the writing lacks the weight necessary to portray such a mammoth of an event. The dialogue is plain and uninspiring, providing only the clichéd version of what one would assume young adults would be discussing while around a camp fire the night of the end of the world. It reminds me of one of those bad horror remakes where the appearance of Lucifer -- “the devil” -- is somehow suppose to frighten us to the point where we accept the rest of what we are being force fed.

Synchronicity
Story: Robert Heske
Art: Dirk Shearer
Lettering: David Paul

This story follows the experience of one of the “chosen few” who will not exactly survive 2012, but have been given the gift to be reborn and to live again. The story is interesting and reads smoothly while smearing depth on the reader that they won’t really even be aware of as they read through it. The questions I have are: why were these specific individuals chosen? What do they share that makes them distinct from the rest of the populace? The one thing I will say is that in this particular case, I felt the story should have been longer and the “Midwayers” could have been more developed. But due to the nature of an anthology, that request seems almost unattainable for such an intricate concept.

Hollow Victory
Story: Dino Caruso
Art/Lettering: Sami Kivela

This is a very charming story about an astronaut who is sent into the future to see if Armageddon has come. But proof of comets colliding with the Earth, nuclear human mutation, and earthquakes that spew armor corrosive toxins are not nearly adequate enough proof that the world has effectively met its end. What does prove to be adequate proof that the world has come to an end is hilarious. This story is well structured so the punch line really gives the reader a laugh, particularly baseball fans.

Judgment on High
Story: Don E. Smith, Jr.
Art/Lettering: Jason Dube

With all the quality work that went into this book, how did this story make it to print? The story itself is a poorly executed commentary on the shallowness of our society, but as if that wasn’t bad enough, the art looks like it was drawn in 10 minutes so it would meet the entry deadline. Comics like this one really upset me. There are so many good writers and artists out there whose voices are not being heard but somehow this mess has made it to print? It was clear to me that little to no thought was truly put into the creation of this story and artwork and a better comic should have been selected to run in its place, particularly as the anthology is drawing to a close.

Harkinton
Story & Art: Duncan Eagleson

Now this I would actually love to see as an ongoing series. Bane is a very enigmatic and magnetic character. His ability to talk with the crows establishes a good rapport that could prove to be a very funny relationship to be developed throughout a series. This short is well structured and provides a perfect amount of depth and backstory. The art is also wonderful. Eagleson truly has a jewel at the tip of his pencil! I hope to see more.

The Seeds of Time
Story: Martin Hayes
Art: Stephen Broome

At this point in the anthology the comics stop and short stories begin. The style implemented to tell this story is a very cool one. What Hayes has done is given the reader a minute-by-minute glimpse into the life of a man who is about to face one of the greatest challenges of his life. A date with a coworker. What the minute-by-minute glimpse does is break down the 11 minutes leading up to the end of the world. Even with the brief glimpse that we get of the characters they are very well established and distinct. The writing allows the story to be believable and the flow and development is natural and fluid. I really enjoyed this piece stylistically.

Head Wounds and Other Ruminations
Story: Jason Light
Art: Reno Maniquis

Swing and a miss. This story could have been told in any other situation...no need to place it in an anthology about 2012. A cop has endowed himself with and overbearing sense of righteousness and the killing of innocence begins. The story, while written well enough, doesn’t provide the reader with anything that would make the story memorable. With reference to The Twilight Zone within the pages of the story it truly seems like a less than exciting episode of that very show.

Annihilation Revelation
Story: Arno Hurter
Art: David Edwards

Now, maybe I just figure stories out too easily but the twist in this tale wasn’t all that inspiring. While the language is descriptive and vivid, the story seemed to drag along up until the twist which just kind of seemed like the only route that could have been taken to give this story any value at all. The problem is that when you realize that a twist is coming, you can pretty much guess it right off the bat. Hurter delivers with Bird’s Eye View, but falls short with this one...

Final Thoughts...

So there you have it. A complete breakdown of 2012: Final Prayer: An End Times Anthology. So what are my final thoughts? Overall. I liked it! There were some good and some bad but in the end, pun intended, 2012 proves to be a solid collection of talented creators.

All-in-all, I’d definitely check out the book!

And on that note I am off to count the few days we have left... whimper... 1087 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 38 seconds... 1087 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes, and 37 seconds...

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2012: Final Prayer can be found on Amazon.com, Zaldiva, DriveThru Comics, and My eBook.