Review: Above Snakes #1 (of 5)

Back in the day, in a little village I used to live in, there was a mobile library that became very popular during the summer holidays. This vessel of adventure allowed me to try different genres and tropes. Into the limelight then step Hawk, a series about a wronged cowboy who lost the use of his now claw like hand and his wife to a gang of bandidos. Jared Hawk survived and tracked said bad guys across the wild wild west.

This trope is heavily used in this new mini-series from Image Comics. Here we have a man wrong in shape of Dirt, who is on a path of vengeance. Seems all peachy and familiar so far, right? Not quite as there is a blood thirty partner in crime to guide and drink the blood of the fallen, the talking vulture Speck. Together, the pair seek justice and blood, in equal measures.

King Spawn writer Sean Lewis leans heavily in to the cowboy on a mission trope, littering the book with the familiar types of characters from whores, bandits and everything in between. Lewis also looks to the absurd with Speck, Dirt’s talking vulture pal. Regarding Speck, I can’t help but think of the ax from Barbaric, although the ax and Speck’s motives are somewhat different. It is this uncouth pairing that gives the book its sense of observational humour come sarcasm; Dirt has his goal and Speck has his; I wonder what happens should the two roads lead to different places. Lewis manages the violence within the book well; you know it’s there but there are more shocking elements that are equally well handled.

The art is provided by Hayden Sherman who delivers an unorthodox style that is, at least on first glance, a tad chaotic. Taking the time to read the book and you get a sense of Sherman’s storytelling and pacing. As unique as the characters looks are, it is the colors that really give the book a kind of abstractness that really makes the book pop with a clever reiteration of the readers expectations, with pinks, blues and reds. The always excellent Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou provides the letters in a cowboy, scratchy font that screams authenticity, I love the the different coloured word bubbles and different shapes. I also love the fact that Image Comics are giving full cover credits which include the letterer; well done Image!

This book was a complete surprise for me. Back in the day, I loved the Hawk novels and this book, talking vulture notwithstanding, brought back all those memories. I am very interested in this run; “ride ’em cowboy!”

Writing – 5 Stars
Art – 5 Stars
Colors – 5 Stars

Overall – 5 Stars

Written by; Sean Lewis
Art & Colors by; Hayden Sherman
Letters by; Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Published by; Image Comics

Author Profile

Johnny "The Machine" Hughes

I am a long time comic book fan, being first introduced to Batman in the mid to late 70's. This led to a appreciation of classic artists like Neal Adams and Jim Aparo. Moving through the decades that followed, I have a working knowledge of a huge raft of characters with a fondness for old school characters like JSA and The Shadow

Currently reading a slew of Bat Books, enjoying a mini Marvel revival, and the host of The Definative Crusade and Outside the Panels whilst also appearing on No-Prize Podcast on the Undercover Capes Podcast Network