Story By: Greg Rucka
Art By: Nicola Scott
Publisher: Image Comics
With all the paranormal / horror goings on of late, with zombies, the prequel to the zombies, vampires and snake vampires not to mention the new season of American Horror, you would think that the scare market has reached saturation level. Not quite so as this new book from Image Comics, bring witchcraft back into the limelight.
From the get go in this book, we are obviously in witch county. There are circles, chants and the usual accouterments, that is until a phone call leads one of them, Rowan Black, back to her more socially acceptable day job as a police officer. It seems that a hostage taker wants an audience with Officer Black, and from there, well things kind of come to ahead.
This book is brought to you by a couple of industry veterans, writer Greg Rucka and artist Nicola Scott. Rucka is brilliant at crafting character pieces wrapped up in either mysteries or violence, traits that are in evidence throughout this book, from the gathering at the start to Black’s motivation, the dialogue is crisp, which given Rucka’s previous crime work, would you expect anything else? Pacing wise, there is enough going on that this book feels like two books, which is kind of the point when it comes to the two aspects of Black’s life.
Nicola Scott has been a bit of a favourite of mine since Teen Titans, all the way up to Earth 2. I was looking forward to seeing this book and was surprised by the distinct change in style that appears to have occurred. Not that in this case change is necessarily a bad thing, its just not expected. Still the “pencils only” approach gives the book a unique look, allowing for the darkness that resides in the town to, ironically, color proceedings.
Fans of crime books should find something to like in this book. But be aware, that is only part of the story. As it stands, this book could be part Witches of East End or Charmed tied into a crime scenario, allowing for a greater freedom of movement for the lead character. Still, the book was an enjoyable read that looks the part and I am more than a little intrigued to see if the story and its conclusion matches my presumptions. Hopefully, I will continue to be surprised.
[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Author Profile
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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
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