Advance Review: Darkhold Wasp #1

The horrors of the Darkhold continues to swathe it’s terror across the Marvel universe. This time around, it’s Janet Van Dyne who gets the proverbial sting in the tail.

By now you know the score, in order to stop the demon Chthon, the Avengers have gazed into the darkness, only for the darkness to not only stare back, but also consume them! Janet Van Dyne has been through the ringer, circa Avengers #180 onwards, where she was the victim of Henry Pym’s obsessions mental health issues that displayed itself as violence towards her. With the Darkhold, however, she may have the power to change her life.

I always knew that Jordie Bellaire was a fantastic colorist, as evidenced here again though we will talk about that a little later. But over the last couple of years, Bellaire has become an equally strong writer from the Buffy-verse and of course the Red Sonja Vampirella series. This time around Bellaire gets to play with the key parts of the Wasp’s history, as tragic as it was. Of course, Janet was eventually strengthened by those experiences. Here the future may not be so rosy as those tragic events reoccur through the prism of the Darkhold. The monologue that runs through the book is creepy and relies on the reader having an understanding of the Avengers past.

Claire Roe first came across my notice on the Batgirl and the Birds of Prey book. Back then, if i remember correctly, I wasn’t overly impressed, with a book that looked quite androgynous. For this book, Roe seems to have altered her style to deliver a pseudo Mike Mignola effect. this means that body poses are a little skewed in places, giving the book its otherworld feel and texture. There are a few guest stars; Tigra looks well even if others do fare less well. Jordie Bellaire returns to her “day job” as colorist and does a great job of muting the normally bright colors of the Avengers. There are loads of shadows to deepen the horror and darkness inherent in the story. Letters are provided by VC’s Clayton Cowles who dispenses whit his normally clear font in favour of a cluttered look that, for the first time in a while, doesn’t quite work. Finally a quick word about the covers; the main one from Paul Renaud is gorgeous and the variant by Cian Tormey has an interesting look.

I had serious doubts of the Darkhold mini-event, being as it came around on top of of Dark Ages; how many alternative universes do you need to see in any given month? That said, the quality of the Darkhold books has been pretty good, the re-workings of the familiar have turned out better than expected.

Writing – 4 Stars
Art – 3.5 Stars
Colors – 4 Stars

Writing – 3.5 Stars

Written by; Jordie Bellaire
Art by; Claire Roe
Colors by; Jordie Bellaire
Letters by; VC’s Clayton Cowles
Covers by;Paul Renaud & Cian Tormey
Published by; Marvel Worldwide

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