Review: Spirit Guild #1

The next book in the eclectic range from Evil Kat is available this week, with Spirit Guild #1 which carries with it a sort of alternative history of the War of Independence. With tensions increasing between Great Britain and it’s would be exit-iers the unthinkable, yet inevitable looms.  Although on this night in 1770, there lies a possible greater danger to both sides.

Historical adventures, with a slice of the absurd can be a hard sell, given how generally we know the outcome.  That said, these types of stories can be used to heighten the journey rather than the destination.  Of course, there is no guarantee that this world will turn out like ours.

Writer Matthew M. Montelione delivers a story that has a little history and lot of little aliens.  Having aliens in the past has worked before; anybody remember Cowboys and Aliens (the comic, not the film).  In order to make it work, we have to understand all the motivations of those involved.  Whilst it is a given we understand the reasons between the sides of this War; what do the aliens hope to achieve?  What do they want?  Montelione drops hints and teases throughout this first issue, to whet the appetite. But is it enough to grab your attention?

The art is supplied by, Pedro Lajud whose work has an interesting style.  The overall motion and poses of the characters work well and the aliens are kind of cute, belaying their intent to spill the blood of the minions, hopefully they mean those overly cute things from Despicable Me!  At times, with the close-ups on faces, there is a nice easy flow ,which gets lost on full body poses.  In addition, the inks are a little vague in the detail, giving the book a half completed feel.  This may be the nature of the digital art. Still, you can’t fault the effort, especially as without colors, the texture of the environment is hard to recapture.

Evil Kat are certainly putting out a range of books that seek to capture the imagination.  Not happy to focus on one genre, they have looked to diversify their books  rather than settle in any one particular niche.  Whilst the books have been of varying quality, I cannot fault their passion and belief in their product.

Writing – 3 Stars
Art – 2.5 Stars

[yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]

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

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