R E V I E W S

JAZMA ONLINE
In this great graphic novel, you will see the friendship that the legendary Count Saint Germaine had with another legend, that of Giovanni Casanova! Gary goes through a lot of research to make this fictional story fall upon the foundation of truth about both of these colorful characters. So, besides getting an entertaining story, you also get a history lesson!! You will learn about courtesans, who manipulated the king and his consorts, like a courtesan named Casanova. You will find an intriguing web that will lead you to the Illuminati, the Vatican, the Spanish Inquisition, the Man in the Iron Mask and more!! Saint Germaine is a churning thriller, electrifying, fast paced, compelling and a gripping page turner! Gary Reed builds suspense to almost unbearable extremes, the kind of mysterious noir setting that readers will love!

Barry Lyga, Under the Reading Lamp, Diamond Comics
When first we meet the star of the eponymous Saint Germaine, he has retained one Manny Chanchu to write the chronicle of his considerable life. He needs his life's story to be put down in words because, he claims, he is dying. But isn't he immortal?  "I am," Germaine says. "Or rather, I choose to be. I can also choose not to be."

That enigmatic reply is Saint Germaine in microcosm. Eclectic, dense with meaning, and by no means a quick or easy read, the comic takes its pleasure in not explaining the alpha and omega of its main character. The result is a character we do not completely understand with a history we cannot penetrate---in short, the most intriguing immortal in comics since Neil Gaiman's Hob Gadling.

We know that the Saint has been around for hundreds (perhaps thousands) of years, and that his lover/nemesis Lilith is similarly immortal. When the two finally meet again in the present, Lilith claims that she, in fact, predates Germaine, that she created him. Germaine claims the opposite, that he is the original immortal. In order to learn the truth, Chanchu ends up within Germaine's consciousness, wallowing in the collective memories and experiences and fantasies of all those Germaine has encountered in his long, long life.

How is this possible? What is Germaine and what is his nature? Reed offers us tantalizing bits, but nothing solid to grasp. Lilith tells Chanchu that he might want to "read up on some quantum mechanics if you want a better understanding," but she may as well be talking to us. You will find no spoon-fed answers here, Reed is telling us.

Reed's research is meticulous, as it must be when writing about a character whose ruminations and flashbacks encompass much of recorded history. Locke's art is perfectly suited to the book and the subject matter...he is equally capable of modern city streets, drawing rooms, Inquisition dungeons, and St. Petersburg at the height of its glory.

Saint Germaine is history and the metaphysical blended into one, a cosmos of its own...egend and fact woven into the fabric of a new reality. Those willing to do more than just flip through a story will find much gold to mine here. If you want a comic book that will entertain you, there are plenty of them out there. If you want a comic that will entertain you and make you think, pick up Saint Germaine.  For actual review

Paul Dale Roberts, Compuserve Reviews
Caliber Comics is like the Star Trek of comic books, you're ready to adventure into areas where no man has gone before. I'm talking about Saint Germaine. Yes, I am familiar with the stories of Count St. Germaine, supposedly an immortal and as strange and as weird as other paranormal legendary icons, such as Edgar Cayce, Zigmund Jan Adamski, Aleister Crowley, Nostradamus, Kasper Hauser (can their comic books be far behind?). One of the things I love about myths, legends, historical anecdotes is trying to decipher what is real and what is myth. Saint Germaine is legendary and his story has been passed on through word of mouth for generations. To determine what is truth and what is false is a challenge for the greatest detective.

Now, you are ready to add on to his myth, his legend and somewhere in the future, a historian will probably add-on Gary Reed's marvelous tale and incorporate it into the legend of what is Saint Germaine.

 I was totally taken in by this powerful story as I saw Jonathan Stidwell taking that big leap, to end his life and he, being the first of a series of suicides. I have been introduced to Level X, in which dreams can become reality, a different level of consciousness, something that I wish to know more about as this brilliant series continues. I am mystified as I learn that an immortal like Saint Germaine is dying, he seeks out a writer for his memoirs and the writer is a most fortunate chap, for an immortal's tale will definitely land him a best seller.

The artwork in this comic was done with exceptional clarity. Vincent Locke has a strong eye for detail, I was very impressed. I  saw "Shindler's List" and seeing the extermination of the Jews as the story was unfolding brought back memories of this monumental movie. Saint Germaine lays on his philosophy of the order of things as he relates the concept of order versus chaos and light versus darkness, and what he says makes sense. There is so much to reveal and explore with this story. I have become enchanted and swept away into this story and will be anticipating more of the "aura of mystery" that surrounds this comic.

Caliber Comics has taken alternate comics into the next level of storytelling.

I am in awe.

Tracy Carp, posted on Amazon
Saint Germaine is a man who lives forever and he is an amalgamate of many people that have lived before as he takes the memories of those dying. This allows the writer, Gary Reed, to cover quite a bit of historical ground as he reaches into the past to pull out some compelling reading. Topics such as The Crusades, the Nazi concentration camps, the life of Franz Kafka, the Salem Witch trials...all blend seamlessly into this narration.

And Saint Germaine isn't the only one. He has his long time companion, Lilith who also does the same. These two are now opposed to each other so it makes for some great reading.

This is just a fantastic story and I'm looking for some of the other issues since this only has five issues in it. I found one dealing with Casanova and another with The Man in the Iron Mask and those are equally as good.

In an interview, someone compared Saint Germaine and Gary Reed to Sandman and Neil Gaiman. They're not the same, but they're equally as good.  Saint Germaine is a must read and I'll be sure to be look for anything else by Gary Reed...he's my new favorite writer.

Jason Sacks, Silver Bullet Reviews
An obscure hack writer named Manny Chanchu, best known for his investigations into strange cults, is tapped by an immortal being named Saint Germaine to write Germaine's life story. Saint Germaine has become jaded and tired of the modern world, in part because he has become separated from his longtime immortal partner, Lilith. As Chanchu and Germaine get to know each other better, Chanchu finds himself changed dramatically by the experience. What had at one time been an interesting lark becomes an exploration into the motivations that live deep in his soul. Because both Germaine and Lilith absorb people's souls, Chanchu finds himself affected by proxy. The complexity and corruption of Germaine and Lilith begins to infect his soul, and has shattering consequences for him.

Saint Germaine: Shadows Fall is an interesting philosophical work in comics form. Readers see the toll that immortality takes on the characters, and get a feeling for the things that can obsess people over their long lives. The downside to this philosophy is that the book is often a bit obscure. For instance, there's a confrontation between Chanchu and shadow creatures created by Lilith that's very confusing until it comes up a second time. Reed's book is more about the thought and the action, and that's both strength and a weakness.

The best parts of the book involve the characters contemplating their lives. There's a haunting scene about halfway through the book where Lilith talks about the burning of Leningrad during the Nazi attack on the city that's reminiscent of the best of Neil Gaiman. There are also a series of scenes depicting suicides at the beginning of the book, which are poignant and fascinating.

Vince Locke's art is wonderfully realistic and thoughtful. His artwork is ideal for a project like this, since it's very grounded in reality and shows real passion for the characters it depicts. I especially like the way he draws Chanchu as a man down on his luck, worn down by his pervious life experiences and by the story he works on with Germaine.

This is a really interesting and thoughtful comic. It's too bad that the action scenes are so obscure; if Reed had paid just a bit more attention to them, this would have been a great comic.       for actual review

Edward Douglas
Maybe it's because I enjoy historically accurate fiction or maybe it's just the way he depicts these characters, but this is definitely one class act. From the fall of Moscow to Napoleon to the death of Franz Kafka to the Salem witch trials, Germaine and his life-long foil, Lilith are there, and they continue to use investigator, Manny Chancu as their medium.

I'm not sure why this issue wasn't included within the regular numbering of the series as it seems to follow the current story line---it even seems like a plausible conclusion for the story---but Reed continues to develop the relationships between this odd threesome.

All-in-all, the writing is better than the concept and Reed's narrative is very powerful, really getting into the minds of the characters and putting the reader fully into the historical settings along with Manny.

Reed's fantastic writing is accompanied by a great mix of artists while regular artist Vincent Locke's inks maintain the consistency through out the different scenes. Something makes me think that this is going to make a damn great graphic novel when it's collected.

Mallory Cowan
Not since Sandman came out have I been so drawn into a comic and mesmerized by the story telling.  I'm sure many people will compare Saint Germaine to Sandman because they both feature intelligent writing and based on legends and in quality, the comparisons are apt.  However, Saint Germaine is not a mimic of Sandman, it is far different.  Whereas Sandman surveyed the world of myths, Gary Reed enters the world of history with his character of Saint Germaine.  Reed also brings Germaine closer to human than Sandman was which is to be expected since apparently at one time, Germaine was human. 

It is ironic that the artist of Saint Germaine, Vincent Locke, started off at Caliber and then left to go to Vertigo to work on Sandman before returning back to Caliber to do the Saint Germaine series.  Its as if Reed sent Locke on his way to get prepared to embark on Saint Germaine and he does a fantastic job.  Just an excellent comic that should be getting a lot more attention than it does.

Lino Terlichi, Drive Magazine (Italy)
A jewel of writing and design, Saint Germaine is born from the pen of Gary Reed and Saint Germaine is an observer, a immortal that has lived all the ages of the history.. The series has been an incredible and successful one in America and hopes that our publisher will publish it here.. A work that dares to dream, that is the first task of the comic strips, and also to reflect. The pages are in. black and white giving greater prominence to the lights and shadows of the vicissitude. I would see it better in a graphic novel format than in that Comic Book.  A very satisfying book that should capture the fans of The Books of Magic but this publication travels in new ways.

Marc Mason, Movie Poop Shoot
Occult writer Manny Chancu is contacted by the mysterious St. Germaine with an interesting offer: write his life story. It seems that St. Germaine is an immortal, and he is ready to give up his eternal life. But before doing so, he wishes to pass on his story. On the surface, certainly, there is an obvious comparison to INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE, but Reed gets away from that quickly, focusing on St. Germaine's long-running affair with another immortal, Lilith. Lilith is a far more emotional creature, and she takes great pride in sustaining herself upon the sins and omissions of others, using her shadows to suck away their very lives and memories. But as it turns out, St. Germaine may not be entirely innocent in that area himself. SHADOWS is quite engaging, and not as complicated as it appears on the surface, but the best reason to take a look at it is the wonderful black and white work by Locke. Gorgeously detailed and rich, it's worth the price of the book alone.

Erik Simenis
The Grand Inquisitor scene/dream/flashback was way cool!  Good to see the addition of a female archetype to the Christ and Anti-Christ Interplay, which lends a rather Kantian synthesis of ideals and a rather Gurdjieffian third force of creation to the back story of Saint Germaine.
Nicely smoothes over my earlier comment about here being too much orientalism in Germaine's philosophizing...unless I'm just reading too much into all this!

Jeffrey Clements
I got if figured out.  Gary Reed has done something which will surprise many people once they realize what he did.  I first read Baker Street and loved it and then didn't see much from Reed as I guess he was too busy running Caliber.  Then Renfield came out and that was just a great book and then I started reading the Raven Chronicle storylines.  I knew that The Red Diaries tied into Raven Chronicles but when I started on Saint Germaine, I noticed that some of the characters were familiar.  Checking back, I saw that the Raven Chronicle characters were infiltrating Saint Germaine.  And then in Saint Germaine, we're introduced to the Magus who had his own series so those two are connected to each other.  Picking up on other titles such as Helsing and Black Mist, again I see familiar faces popping in and out.  Reed had created a universe without telling anyone!  And it's a universe where you don't have to read all of the titles to get a handle on the characters which should be a lesson to all comic companies.

But of all the series, Saint Germaine is heads and tails above the rest.  This is one incredible series.  I read all of the issues and all of them were great but the earlier ones with art by Vince Locke were the best although I did like The Man in the Iron Mask one shot and found it very moving.  Magus was a separate series and that one blew me away as well especially when Reed discussed the history of the Gods that faded away.  I hope that someday Reed will compile all of the series, especially Saint Germaine into graphic novels as it would be a shame to have such great work disappear into the quarter boxes.

Kurt Meer
Possessed by some thing and pushed forward into unknown territory. To exist here, fueled by only one's sensibilities - ordering some slim chance of creation. The thin thread of honesty in work is frayed. When only cliches are left, new thought burns brightly. I walk through life looking for these flashes in the peripheral. Something to reassure. Faith.  When things change at a rapid pace, foresight is irrelevant. Culture has no meaning, its symbols congeal into a formless abstract thing. A veritable crystal ball swirling with images in the clouded glass.

Modernism proved that the commonplace has the great potential of abstraction. We must prove that the abstract has the great potential of the commonplace - for the next century.  The difficulty with abandoning convention: wide open space a vista filled with nothing. Your back is to history. The question arises---what is the question? I feel like you are tapping into some interesting ideas in Saint Germaine.

John L. Kruze
 Whoa.  Who would've expected literature in comics?  Neil Gaiman does it but most of the time, attempts by others sound over indulgent or pretentious.  Saint Germaine doesn't.  It works and it works well.  Better than well, this is one absorbing and fantastic story.  It is literate and entertaining at the same time.  It has elements of horror mixed in with philosophy and yet some how it all blends together into one great package.  The story is one of the most engaging I've ever read in comics and the art is top notch.

This is more than a winner, Saint Germaine is a stunning example of the power of the medium.  It should be exalted.