Advance Review: Road of Bones #1

Desperate situations will lead to desperate actions. When survival calls for it people can and will do what it takes to make it through. Road of Bones #1 depicts the brutal and unforgiving world of the Siberian Gulag in the 1950s. A place where humanity has long been absent and all that is left are the listless men longing for relief. Isolated with a frozen wasteland the only escape is to become like the malnourished corpses the prisoners bury in the frozen ground that lays beneath their feet. Still, as is quickly demonstrated fleeing to certain death may be a better opinion than living on frozen hell on earth.

The story centers on Roman Morozov who appears to be a typical prisoner who was thrown in jail for the simple mistake of making a joke at the wrong party. There is a lot of dire situations in this comic, however, there is also a surprising sense of humor. Morozov“s interrogation scene found a way to elicit a hardy laugh despite the dire circumstances. Quickly it is established that these soldiers are not ones you dare question as releasing frustration through a fury of unmerciful fists is their favorite pastime.

Morozov like all the other prisoners is just trying to live long enough to leave as he waits for his sentence to conclude. What he is finding is that laws are only what people make them as justice dies the moment you step foot into the Gulag. Hope does come when he is approached to assist in an upcoming prison escape. Failure will mean certain doom, but if they can pull it off he may be able to find his way out of this hellish situation.

Artist Alex Cormack is largely responsible for making the atmosphere of this issue as effective as it is. Starting with how he renders the faces of the men that make up this prison. These are people that have lived their lives as the weight of the world is written into the fabric of their features. Wrinkles, scars, and misshapen features make them appear like people you would expect to see in the world“s worst prison. How he differentiates day and night. During the night scenes or in the darken cells people and objects are nearly all blacked out except for highlighting some of their outlining features. It is as if even light finds this world too challenging to exist in.

If you have a story that takes place in Siberia you are going to need to find a way to make it feel cold. Cormack does just that by every so slightly adding that effective frozen breath effect. Not every instance does it work as it can look overly digitize and almost sperate from everything else on the page. However, the use of snow was much more effective as it added enough to bring a sense of place to each scene.

The one piece that can hinder what is otherwise an impressive first issue is a potentially supernatural element that lingers mostly in the background for this installment. Everything that is here already works well enough that having that piece is unnecessary. Straightforward stories that center are a possible real life situation are so rare in comics it is a nice change of pace when there is not a monster hiding in the shadows. Â To be fair it is still a massive unknown what is exactly happening with this domovik creature as it may be nothing more than a manifestation of Cormack“s broken psyche.

Overall Thoughts:

Even if the domovik is real that does not mean the series is lost as it will all come down to execution. For some having that piece may even increase their overall enjoyment of the book. Either way, this does exactly what a first issue should. Enough context is given to understand what concept this story is built upon and within that story is a character with an intriguing tale to tell. Having a unique setting and time also separates it from a crowded comic book field and the art provides an ideal sense of place and atmosphere. All this makes Road of Bones #1 one of the best first issues that has been released this year.

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

Writer: Rich Douek
Artist: Alex Cormack
Letterer: Justin Birch

In Shops: In Shops: May 22, 2019
Diamond Code: MAR190729

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Daniel Clark

A fan of all things comics. Growing up on a healthy diet of 90's Batman and X-Men cartoon series ignited a love for the medium that remains strong today.