Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Up and Coming Females #5: Aspen from Fathom


Aspen from Fathom
Originally uploaded by Heidi Meeley.
My dark horse on the list is Aspen from Fathom. The reason I am including her is that I have always felt she is a great character whose appearance has overshadowed her potential.

Imagine having a character that is raised believing she is a normal girl, only to find that she is the product of two rival underwater races. Throw in the fact that she has unlimited power but isn't sure of how to harness it. Aspen has a college degree in marine biology and studies, so she is a intelligent lady with an academic background to boot.

All the potential is there in Aspen. She has a great back story and incredible depth to explore. I am waiting to see where her current series takes her. It is nice in a way that someone other then "superstar" artist and creator Michael Turner is drawing her so that the focus can be put on the tale being told rather then hyping the art. No offense to Turner, but there is always so much focus put on the character's appearance that sometimes the tale being told doesn't mesh because it isn't the priority. Aspen is a character whose story deserves top billing.

Her first adventures were published by Top Cow. The series lasted around 14 issues and then Turner took his creation and started his own company. Her adventures there have totaled three issues so far, and I am anxiously awaiting the fourth as things are really getting interesting.

If you haven't gotten past the art or the sexy appearance of Aspen, now is your chance to reevaluate the character on her back story. Take the time and see if you come up with a new appreciation.

Aspen deserves a spot on my list for future payoff. I am crossing my fingers that her company thinks so too. After all, she is their namesake.

2 comments:

Carl said...

I read the first few issues of Fathom until they seemed to have "number 1" issues every few months. I enjoyed it but it got to be such a pain and everytime there was a new issue, all the stores (at least here around Tampa) seemed to go nuts and raise the prices like the next week. It's really hard to get into a book when if you don't buy on this Wednesday, by the next, it's $6 instead of $2.99. Oh yes, I also eagerly awaited the series, "Fathom", that became "Surface". It was to be based on the comic. And a few weeks before it become "Surface", pretty much has nothing to do with the comic and is pretty tepid. People are stunned when I tell them it was supposed to be based on Fathom. Oh well...

Heidi Meeley said...

Carl, I had no clue that Surface was tied to Fathom. That is crazy. I will have to check it out just to see how different it is.

Aspen is a great character, but it is indeed frustrating to have to pay so much for one book because of the Michael Turner and variant covers. I am anti-variant, and it drives me nuts.

Take care!