Ong is handling all of this with a certain amount of success, but then two things happen at once: one of the crates turns out to contain the shroud of Turin; and Dr. Jameson, a long deceased mad scientist, appears as a ghost to steal the shroud and revive himself. Jameson, however, is not just your run-of-the-mill undead evil nemesis. He has made a pact with a demon, and can turn ordinary cats into raving, roving, roaring, randomly-shaped beasts of destruction. Oh, and he's out to conquer the world with the help of inter-galactic giant space eels. Obviously.
You may think I've just thrown dozens of spoilers your way. Not so. All of this is just the premise for the story, which now picks the pace, introduces a love interest to Dr. Ong, explores his relationship with his parents, veers into religious themes, casually throws a half-man/half-mantis security guard into the mix and gallops onwards to an action-packed climax.
Now, as if all of this is not impressive enough - and the imaginative prowess behind Creature Tech is awe-inspiriting - TenNapel almost manages to make it work. Somehow, much of the book doesn't seem crowded or rushed, and the world is - remarkably - not only believable, but not that different from our own. And then there's the art. Oh, the art.
TenNapel is, let us not mince words, a master. This is not only because he's an excellent artist, demonstrating line-work as impressive as I've ever seen, but because he doesn't let the art go over the top: it's there to serve the story. The synergetic effect is quite wonderful, and everything else about the art - lettering, layouts, even sound-effects - works as well.
But then come characterization and dialogue. The book only has two significant characters - Dr. Ong and Dr. Jameson. Jameson is rather one-dimensional, but in an original sort of way, and, after all, he's a zombie mad-scientist - so no complaints there. But Ong, who carries most of the book on his shoulders, is supposed to make amends with his father, learn to live with an altered medical condition, struggle with theological issues, initiate a romantic relationship and stop a horde of hell-cats hell-bent on enslaving the world. The character collapses under the strain and stops being believable before he's even begun: is he a geek or a rebel? Why does he fall for his love? When and why did he become an atheist, and why is it even important? All of these - and many more - just get left behind as the story races on. If the story was just about action and monsters none of this would matter, but it aims to cover more "serious" issues and, mostly when it comes to Theology, fails.
- What, really?
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