‘The Rift’ Intelligently Blends Sci-Fi And Fantasy
A year ago Graphic Illusions Studios’ six-part sci fi comic The Rift was on a collision course with the big screen. Unfortunately financing for the film adaptation fell through, but I wouldn’t be surprised if at some point in the future there is renewed interest in this particular series.
The Rift is an epic story that documents an alien struggle for power that finds itself unfolding on Earth. It follows the villainous Ja’Laar, an evil alien on a quest to obtain a key to unlimited magic power. When he learns the key has been hidden on Earth, he brings his equally nasty henchmen with him to tear the world apart in search of it – just as he has done other worlds.
A sole survivor of one such planet that Ja’Laar wiped out is Silo’Ett, an alien herald who, after escaping Ja’Laar’s clutches, successfully makes it to Earth ahead of him. Silo’Ett attempts to bring together a group of humans to help them protect the key and the Earth from destruction.
The thing I like about The Rift is that it isn’t just a stock-standard sci-fi story about evil aliens coming to harm Earth. It is also fantasy story that weaves in a mixture of magic, Vampires and Werewolves – yes, The Rift has them too. Normally I would be the first to say Vampires and Werewolves have been done to death, but in the case of The Rift they come with an all new and interesting slant on their origins, powers and intentions.
The Vampires are actually aliens that are not immortal but that can live for centuries due to DNA tinkering. They drink human blood only because it’s the closest food source they have to their homeworld life sustaining nectar. The Werewolves are shapeshifting aliens who suffer from allergic reactions to things such as as the lunar cycles and certain metals like silver – but their bite won’t result in a human turning into an alien. Together both Vampires and Werewolves, as refugees from another world, are split into various factions each with their own alliances and intentions. Not all are the enemies of mankind.
Despite all of the above, The Rift keeps itself centered on the experiences of the characters, particularly the human characters, which in the end is the aspect of the series that binds its hybrid nature together nicely. Of course, the superb artwork (as can be seen in the images in this article) doesn’t hurt either.
The Rift is written by Andrew LoVuolo (Marshal). The first five issues have been released and number six is on the way (preview artwork is available on the Graphic Illusions Studios website). Interestingly, when LoVuolo created the story his intention was to unfold it in three parts however an error in the first two ads for the Diamond PREVIEWS catalog led to a public announcement that The Rift was a six part series. Rather than correct the error, LoVuolo decided to extend the story. In hindsight you could say this was a kind of fate in action since the story is so epic it certainly warrants and seems to have benefitted from the additional instalments.
The change to the length of the series and the falling through of film financing aren’t the only hiccups the series has faced. Printers have attempted to take money without actually printing the comics, others have failed to provide proofs which, as murphy’s law would have it, resulted in printed copies having key dialogue ommissions. The problems the series has faced don’t end there either, but suffice to say the creators have endured an uphill battle to deliver their work to their fans.
Yet, it seems to me, that nothing great is released without perseverence and, with the final issue of the series almost ready to go, I’m guessing the reward for effort for the team behind The Rift is just around the corner.
Learn more about The Rift or buy issues here:
Graphic Illusions Studios
January 2nd, 2010 at 7:35 am
I would like to join the group