Myriad #1-4
Various Artists
Approbation Comics
Cover Price $2.99; Available Now

Anthology comics are few and far between, and are always tricky to market to the masses, especially when you are dealing with a title with not just multiple short stories, but multiple titles and storylines that are entities unto themselves under that anthology umbrella. The choice to make it as homogeneous as possible to target a specific audience (think Marvel Comics Presents), or to make it a diverse compilation that will force readers out of their comfort zone and expose them to new genres and storytelling is always difficult. Approbation Comics, with their Myriad line, decides to take a huge gamble by bringing together five titles that couldn’t possibly be more different under the same umbrella, with each title getting approximately eight pages per book. Does the gamble pay off?

In Chi Sai, a mysterious black female warrior dressed head-to-toe in special bulletproof fabric and armed with two sai, returns from the past to wreak havoc on the city’s crime syndicate. But when the crime boss realizes that this woman has previous ties to their organization, he sends his top assassin to make her life a living hell. Bart A Thompson, who runs Approbation Comics, takes a stab at the “human” superhero genre as he begins building the base for one badass woman that just won’t stay dead. As has become expected from Thompson’s writing style, he hits the ground running with action, and only fills in the reader on a need to know basis. And for now, all you need to know is do not get on Chi Sai’s bad side!

Lineage follows the adventures of snarky and sarcastic Janus, a government agent with nigh-superhero powers in the year 2314. When an entire city, filled with over twenty-two million people disappears, Janus is sent to analyze the situation. There he finds an elven magician who has been sent to watch over the growth of a “growth” spell that will cover the planet with trees and living things. When Janus tries to protect O’Ryn from a military attack, he is regarded as a traitor, and must join O’Ryn in hopes of stopping the spell from destroying the cities of the world. This melding of electronic science-fiction and organic fantasy offers a little bit for both fan camps, with subtle hints underneath about the warnings of losing too much contact with nature. It is a shame that this story is in black and white, as the dueling contrasts between metal and green life would be much more fulfilling and striking in full color.

Can’t get enough Pirates Of The Caribbean or Worlds Of Warcraft? Then let the The Adventures Of The Molly Be Damned fill that need for pirates, seafaring, curses, and duels. In this parallel storyline, the newest captain of the ship the Molly Be Damned has a vision of the curse that is attached to the ship, and makes way for the kingdom of La Montaigne where a spell to lift the curse might be found. Meanwhile, two friends become bitter enemies as they battle for the hand of a woman who will lead them to become the lord of the land. All the great themes are touched upon here, including jealousy, redemption, and honor, and with swords crossing each other, and huge ocean gods that can hold a ship in their hand, good times will be had by all!

Retail is hell, as has been told countless times in countless indie comic books chronicling the real life of the writer. But for the employees of US Mart in Discount Stories, Hell would be a welcome vacation. Ernie, the “greeter,” is hardly able to muster a smile for the customers, or care at all as they rob the store blind. Checkout girl Dee Dee, a high school dropout and now pregnant, tries to keep control of her life and write that one epic poem that has been floating around in her head. Kurt, another of the checkout elite, spends more time in daydreams than he does in reality. Meanwhile Betty and Beatrice, two of the store’s sample table runners, duel against each other with venomous and stinging words as they try to get one over on the other. Yes, for the employees of US Mart, life can get pretty bad, but at least they all have a common foe, their manager Chad.

The final tale in this anthology, Frail, starts off as what appears to be the romance-geared entry, and quickly turns into something much worse. For Craig, he thought he had found the perfect woman in Nessane, but when she is murdered right before his eyes, his mind simply snaps. Though he now spends session after session with a psychiatrist trying to put the pieces together, he just cannot let go of what could have been. Is this absurd tragedy that toys with the lives of the characters as if they were play things or the darkest of comedies that will bring out a sinister laugh in only the most jaded? It is left up to the reader to decide, but with two main characters introduced in each new chapter, and only one making it out of the chapter alive, you can bet it will be anything but boring!

It is difficult to recommend this book at face value, simply with the wildly diverse stories that inhabit each issue, but if the larger overall theme of the singular underdog character attempting to overcome adversity and challenges appeals to you, Myriad is certainly worth scoping out. And if Approbation has set out to give some willing and adventurous readers a compilation of sorts of the varying genres found within their publishing company while at the same time paying homage to the pedal-to-the-metal speed of the serials of yesteryear, then they have certainly succeeded.

Available at IndyPlanet.