Somewhat small pickings this week but thats not a bad thing. Hexed is a new entry that proves to be a really fun and new take on witches with charismatic art and a storyline that hooks you. Joshua Hale Fialkov proves why he is master story teller of the supernatural world and Thomas Alsop finally starts building a sturdy foundation for its story.
Written by Michael Alan Nelson
Art by Dan Mora
Published by Boom! Studios
We are thrown into Hexed full throttle, with no time for a lot of backstory or any sort of education on what kind of magical world we are being brought into. But with fun kinetic art and writing that is incredibly in depth, I came away from the first issue wanting more.
Our anti-hero is Lucifer, a thief who also happens to dabble in magic. Picture Catwoman meets Constantine. She ends up stealing something that throws her into the middle of a huge magical feud and the situation gets intense at breakneck speeds.
A lot of characters are introduced and a lot of words that you arent going to understand are used. It teeters between charming and overwhelming but luckily stays closer to the former. It has some unique takes on magic and a lot of Burton-esque characters that are gorgeously drawn. This is a great debut from Nelson and Mora. Plus you get a kick ass cover from Emma Rios.
Written by Chris Miskiewicz
Art by Palle Schmidt
Published by Boom! Studios
The more I read of this comic, the more I really do love the concept. The Alsops are the hand of the island, Manhattan, and as such they are spiritually connected to it and granted magical abilities to protect it. Its a twist on the idea of a tribal shaman and updated to modern times in a more urban culture.
Our main character finally takes a large step in the spotlight, over the Elizabethan ancestor of his that dominated the first two issues, and we get to see him tap into his darker mystical abilities. It presents an interesting and dangerous plot to tread, involving the trapped souls from 9/11, and how it connects to an evil older ancient evil.
With a lot of time travel and plot development, issue three seems to be the most well built issue so far. Alsop is still overall a character that is hard to love but he is coming to terms with himself as we are and his development as well as the plot are making steps in the right direction.
Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov
Art by Matt Triano
Published by Dynamite Comics
Fialkov totally pulls a Tarantino in this issue, starting and ending it with the same line of dialogue and all the while giving us the origin story of one of the characters and neatly moving everything forward. Devilers is a cool title. Its got Hell, demons, and a supergroup of multiethnic religious types who all have super powers directly related to beating the crap out of Hellspawn. Our team has made its way into Hell and are looking for who is responsible of the increased attacks on Earth, although it seems that Lucifer may not be sitting in his throne. The dialogue is tight, the plot is fluid and the art is gritty and dirty, exactly how it should be when were looking at the lowest depths of Hell and its citizens. The biggest problem is that it has a large cast of characters and it can be a bit of a challenge to nail everyone down. Once the powers are introduced it does get a bit easier but even going into this issue cold from the last one I had a hard time recalling what exactly had happened and who was who. Nonetheless, its a rock solid sophomore issue.
