I have a strange fascination with the Razorline series -- Marvel's short-lived line of "superheroes from the mind of Clive Barker!" The Death of Superman had been a juggernaut for the world of comics, so everyone was looking for the next big gimmick. One of Marvel's ideas was to create a universe of superheroes created by Clive Barker. I remember Razorline having a massive push behind it; Hellraiser III had a similar marketing push around the same time, so they were definitely trying to get Barker more in the mainstream at that point.
I was a horror fan and had just gotten into comics, so I had seen the heavy promotion of the Razorline imprint at comic shops and in magazines like Wizard and Hero. Long-running comics can be hard to get into, so it's nice when you can join a title from the start. I remember the Razorline comics being at my local supermarket and my mom pushing me to buy them because they seemed neat and because of Barker's involvement. (It didn't seem like her, but my mom was somehow favorable of the first two Hellraisers and was like "Ooh, they're from that Hellraiser guy!") I mostly remember having issues of Ectokid and Saint Sinner -- I liked Ectokid, but didn't keep up with it because, hey, comics are expensive when you're a kid. You have to choose wisely what you want to buy. (I wasted a lot of time in comic shops deciding on what to buy.)
Razorline's often popped up in my thoughts and, over the years, I became a bigger fan of Barker's, and that led to me checking them out again. They made such a big deal out of this and it only lasted under a year! What happened? What went wrong? SO much promotion for it! They talked of three new titles and future storylines and none of the titles cracked 10 issues! It just boggles my mind how it all went up so quickly.
I think the first mistake with the Razorline comics was to have them all share a universe. Each title was already big in scope and packed with layered mythology and were already big concepts to swallow, so by trying to link them all, it just became unwieldy and got away from the various creators. Most of the Razorline titles started out strong, but...changed, and started petering out, and I think it was when they started trying to do crossovers and link titles. But each of the titles held such promise...
-ECTOKID, written at first by James Robinson and then Lana Wachowski. I liked this one as a kid and, judging from the letters column, it was the favorite of most readers. I'll say it's my favorite of the titles, even if some of that is just because I liked it as a kid. But the Ectosphere is a cool concept (a world created by the dead who are still clinging to their lost lives) and "Deadboy Dex," the half-human, half-ghost protagonist has a memorable look, attitude and ability that helps it stand out. Dex encounters a lot of nifty monsters and creatures throughout his book, one of the most memorable being the black creatures known as the Etherites, who make sure the occupants of the Ectosphere are supposed to be there and those who aren't are moved on. Wachowski gives Dex interesting powers (even if controlling his ectoplasm looks like he's swinging around loogies) and brings more emotion to the series, but it's a shame that the title loses its New Orleans focus and flavor once Robinson leaves as writer.
Ectokid's easily the most accessible of the Razorline titles, proven by the fact that they made attempts at making a cartoon and video game out of it. Supposedly some people were turned off by the horror aspect of it when...it's not quite horror. It's horror in the way Ghostbusters is horror -- it deals with the supernatural, but it's not trying to scare you.
-SAINT SINNER, written by Elaine Lee, seems like the controversial title. I had issues as a kid, but don't remember reading them -- I probably did and was just confused by it, because it's a trip. I'm surprised it wasn't the breakout title of the bunch, because it has such a unique premise and mood that I feel like most people would have appreciated at the time, and it's the title that feels the most Barker-like to me. It's also the darkest, most horror-like of the Razorlines. But it has its own unique style to it that sounds like people found off-putting. But I think that's the point -- writer Elaine Lee and artist Max Douglas aren't holding your hand, but throwing intense fragments of information at you and you get the picture through the feel of it. It's a mood piece, and they want to convey the fractured headspace of possessed main character Philip Fetter, they want to convey the bizarre world and dimensions he travels. (The character who is a dimension hopper always being out of focus, as if vibrating and never in synch with where he is, is such a cool idea. And it was clever to have the angelic Regina's dialogue be in a calligraphy font while the demonic Runesmith's dialogue is in the style of a ransom note.)
The artistic, expressive writing, the inventive and stylish artwork, this title is more mature than the others, and I think if it was aimed at mature readers, it would have been beneficial to the series. Razorline wasn't intended to be an imprint like DC's Vertigo or Marvel's own Epic, which targeted mature readers exclusively; Razorline was intended to be regular comics for all readers. I think they could have easily dusted this one off for a Rated M revamp. The premise of the titular character answering prayers of the downtrodden holds a lot of story potential, even if some risked the chance of being episodic. It's a dark (with dark humor), twisted, moody, atmospheric and visceral read that sticks with you. I admit that a lot of it is confusing, but I still think that's a stylistic choice and that it's going more for a mood.
-HOKUM & HEX, written by Frank Lovece. I don't think I bothered with this one at the time, and I was hesitant to read it now because I thought it was going to be dopey. But it had a lot of cool ideas and is well-paced. The big stand out is the main character, Trip Munroe, who's a unique superhero in that he's a depressed, traumatized guy who's also a bit of a flop in life, but is somehow given magical, god-like powers. (Despite that description, he's a stand-up comedian!) So we follow him along as he's bungling his way to being a superhero, not wanting the responsibility, but he starts to better himself and, as the series wraps up, he finds that maybe being a hero is the one thing he could be good at. This description doesn't do the comic justice; it makes it sound like Trip's a Tick-like cartoonish dummy when he's more grounded and nuanced and pathetic. Lovece describes Trip as a talentless loser. I can't think of another hero like him in American comics -- this failure who's somehow supposed to be "Earth's Champion" -- these titles sharing a universe kind of undercuts Trip's unique situation.
I didn't care for some of the designs in this one, though -- mainly the troll-like Corpii, which I don't think fit in with the rest of this title's style. Some cool looking villains with Felon Bale and Bloodshed, at least. (Felon Bale should find some pants, though.)
-HYPERKIND, by Fred Burke. A superhero team with cool designs (my favorite is Logix), I like the Egyptian inspiration of their powers, the history of the previous team, that the modern version is a bunch of flawed L.A. street kids who don't get along so easily is an interesting angle. I feel like this title deviated from the original plans somewhat -- in that preview issue, we're told the previous team's downfall was their in-fighting, and that the new team would have to prevent history from repeating. But the actual comic shows us that the original team was all pretty much taken down by the villain's manipulation of them. We're also told the old team is all dead, but they'll keep popping up (still, mysteriously) alive when the story calls for it.
The new incarnation of the team also vows to fight for the disenfranchised people of Earth, but they're quickly swept up into fighting supervillains, so these heroes who have been hardened by life on the L.A. streets ends up abandoning their vow to fight for people similar to them. That was the series' unique hook, in my opinion -- superheroes for the disenfranchised.
The heroes of all of the Razorline titles are flawed, which is refreshing, but Hyperkind takes it a little too far and the heroes come across a little unlikable to me. (Especially Lisa, who the book focuses on. A spoiled rich kid who doesn't relate to her so-called friends and does nothing but complain about them and her situation and everything.) Having one team member be a part-time drug dealer and another being a stripper/prostitute/addict is certainly a surprise for a comic aimed at all readers -- it's nothing compared to how extreme comics would eventually become, but still a shock for the time.
Yeah, Hyperkind is my least favorite of the Razorline. Perhaps I judge it more harshly because I like superhero teams. Or perhaps I prefer Marvel's Generation X, which came a few years later, but reminiscent in that it's also about angsty, lost, very '90s teen heroes trying to get along. Generation X might not be as edgy as Hyperkind, but it's a more entertaining read. (Actually taking breathers for issues with the characters just interacting; not jumping from one crazy big scenario and conspiracy to the next.)
The keywords for Razorline are "unique," "imaginative," "bold" and "experimental." I think all of them were just too big and too weird to really catch on; some of the titles that have pacing issues or retcons or abandoned threads are obviously trying to course correct as they went along, but it didn't save them. Would it have been better to launch one title at a time? Were they too ambitious, too weird? Did DC Comics sabotage them?! Was it all a money-laundering scheme?! How does such a big, bold experiment -- from one of the most popular writers, from one of the biggest companies in comics -- fizzle out so quickly?! Canceled, dropped out of the blue, with storylines just getting started and being cut off without warning until the penultimate issue. The editorial page kept talking about future issues and storylines -- down to details of a crossover leading to a romance between characters. (I'm assuming, based on a group photo in issue eight of Ectokid, that the romance was to be between Saint Sinner and Hyperkind's Bliss.) So how far developed were they with these titles before the sudden cancellation? Is there lost issues in a vault at Marvel somewhere? If not issues, then scripts and artwork? How far did they get into the fifth and sixth titles, Mode Extreme and Wraitheart?
Razorline came on to the scene bold, bright, but quickly faded out. It was such a strange, unique experiment, producing strange and unique superheroes. Sometimes high concept ideas don't hold longevity -- were these titles doomed to a short run? Would they hold the same fascination and mystique for me if they went longer? It would be nice to get these titles reprinted in trade paperbacks, but I guess only the biggest Barker fans remember them. The comics themselves were as flawed as their heroes, but at least they were something different.
