Cullen Bunn & Brian Hurtt, writers
Tyler Crook, colors
Recap
The story begins, a group of young people drive recklessly through country roads avoiding something that’s chasing them. However, their pursuer somehow stands in the middle of the road in front of them causing them to crash and killing everyone. A pair of community police officers investigates but finds few leads as to how the accident occurred. Meanwhile, A father, Roman Black, and son, Basil, converse in a large mansion, tucked away in the woods. The Father excuses himself and descends a bared passageway to a crypt where he finds a large blood-red hourglass and has a conversation with ghosts. The story transitions back to the county sheriffs where one of them suddenly and spontaneously bursts into flames. One final transition occurs, a girl runs toward the mansion and away from a trio of young men with supernatural powers. The Roman Black rescues the girl and proclaims that he will protect her.
The tone of this book is consistent with Bunn’s previous works. The colors are dark, the images are crude and cryptic adding to the intrigue. Tension is created through mystery the presence of the supernatural in both protagonist and antagonist. The art reminds me of a muddier version of Jeff Lemire’s work on Royal City. The characters are sparse but still includes a haunting quality that draws the reader into the story.
The intrigue in the story lies in its mysterious presentation of the supernatural. Roman Black possess some unrevealed power and authority. It appears that he is getting ready for a transition, which might require his son to transform and evolve into something greater. In addition, three boys attack a girl at the end of the book. These three characters possess powers and belong to another group. It will be interesting to see how these three characters interactions with Roman Black develop in the coming issues. I highly recommend this book to fans of the horror and supernatural genres. Overall = 8.5/10
