REVIEW: Voracious #1 (of 4)
Writer(s): Markisan Naso
Artist Name(s): Jason Muhr
Poor Nate Willner. In true comic book style, this young chef suffers the loss of his sister which sends his life upside down and back to the welcoming arms of his home town in Utah. Leading a dead-end life in a dead-end diner, Nate receives the news that another family member has passed away, although this time he has been left a mysterious “vampire crypt” of an estate. This leads to a discovery and perhaps a chance to restart his life.
Mixing a chef and dinosaurs seems like an odd mix. Throwing in elements of time travel only seems to make matters even more odd. Written by Markisan Naso, the book is full of pop culture references. Now, I understand that writers use pop culture as a means to get a point across or to generate buy in from the reader. But they do have a shelf life and from a certain point of view, it may be considered last writing. Still Naso does give Nate a sense of life. The telephone conversation with his ex is one of the early highlights in the book.
Jason Muhr provides the art for the book, with clean lines that seem somewhat laid back in the light of the more cluttered looks that a lot of competitors’ publish.  This is either a good thing or a bad thing depending on your point of view; for me it’s a nice change of pace. What Muhr may lack in creating comic book faces that show real emotion, he more than makes up for with the design of the aforementioned estate and of course the dinosaurs, which practically leap of the page. There are other elements that work well in the book, but you know me, no spoilers. Andrei Tabacaru does a competent job with colors on the book, bearing in mind the various past, present and possible future environs that feature in the book.
Overall, the book was ok; it didn’t wow me but nor did it bore me rigid. The topics covered aren’t really my thing, I haven’t even seen Jurassic World yet, so the idea of spending time with the beasties doesn’t really appeal. If you, on the other hand, can’t get enough of dinosaurs and pop culture, then Voracious may have the ingredients that appeal to your comic book appetite.
Author Profile
- 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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