Review: ‘Ayre Force’
The past few years have seen all sorts of graphic novels hit the market, but here’s a new one: Wealthy owner of online poker site commissions comic adventure starring souped-up incarnations of himself and his employees in a battle against deranged foes hell-bent on torturing animals.
The wealthy owner in this case is Calvin Ayre, founder of Bodog. And [[[Ayre Force]]] ($19.95) is the book, essentially an opportunity for Ayre to unleash his fantasies in illustrated form.
See muscle-bound Calvin battle his enemies, guns a-blazin’. See Calvin outsmart his foes. See Calvin walk around shirtless, showing off his chiseled features. (Ayre’s real-employees-turned-heroes get similar glamourous treatment.)
There’s a point when the villain confronts Calvin and says, “Look who’s talking, living out your fantasies and delusions of self-importance,” and he seems to be speaking as much to the real Calvin as the fictional one.
It’s a preposterous endeavor on its face, but that’s not to say there are no redeeming qualities. Ayre hired a quality crew to work on this book, including former [[[Batman]]] editor Joseph Phillip Illidge and artist Shawn Martinbrough. Their efforts are solid, if not quite enough to transcend the concept.
One seemingly bizarre inclusion is the involvement of the villains in “bear bile farming,” which sounds like something too absurd even for Doctor Evil. Turns out, it’s an actual practice, and bear bile is used for medicinal purposes (to the bear’s great discomfort). Ayre is putting the book’s profit toward ending that farming, so at least the book has good intentions behind it, even if it reads like a celebration of ego.
http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/sandt/BearBileF…Holy Shit! It's true. Bear bile farming is the senseless torture, not only of defenseless animals but ENDANGERED species too! It's nauseating, inhumane and despicable.http://www.hsus.org/wildlife/issues_facing_wildli…"Ayre Force" IS a celebration of ego. It's blatantly a vanity project. It KNOWS it and admits it. But, it's not a pointless celebration of ego. Here there is a specific agenda beyond self promotion. It's also not an unprofessional vanity project. It's well drawn at least.I've only looked at the preview, here: http://ayreforce.bodoglife.com/ The comic seems to promote violent vigilantism. But maybe that's standard fair for comics these days.BoDog seems to be a mix of gambling, mixed martial arts and cheesecake bordering on soft core misogyny. http://nation.bodoglife.com/ Elayne Riggs would have a field day, if she can keep her lunch down. http://fight.bodoglife.net/bodog-girls/Ayre Force is an interesting novelty, But at $19.95 and just 96 pages, Ayre Force is an over-priced vanity project. There is nothing in the art, story or concept to recommend it THAT much.
Wow! I totally disagree with your Ayre Force review. I was at Comic Con NY, bought the book there, got it signed by the entire creative team, and got pics of me with the sexy Ayre Force girls. I thought the story was cool and the art was wild! The fact that all the money goes to charity, too… I'm happy with with my purchase!