I was only too thrilled to get my hands on a copy of this this past Wednesday when New Comic Book Day rolled around. My neighborhood comic shop, Ryan's Comics was down to a mere handful of copies, if that was not indeed how many they had received in the first place. I had already spent a little more than my usual allowance this month picking up the first four issues of The Man of Steel (DC), Magic Order, The Last Siege, and The Weatherman (all Image), but this was a special circumstance.
Anyone who has anything to do with comic books on Twitter, either as a reader or a creator, has seen at least one post alluding to this new book over the past month, and most of the talk (all of it, really) has been high anticipation. Even before the book had been officially released, gushing reviews had begun to seep through the cracks, leaving those of us who were not in the know already in an even more intense state of optimistic trepidation. It was worth the wait.
Few authors are capable of the sort of slow burn exposition that Christopher Sebela pulls off here with aplomb. I found myself rereading certain panels, spending whole minutes on four and five panel pages to make sure I understood everything aright, that I was grasping the setting and the time period accurately. Was that a revolver that character just pulled? That was a British euphemism, was it not? Are they in the far east? Where in the hell are they?
The answers, I found, were surprising. I had little idea of what the story was about short of that it took place in the indeterminate past on an old boat. And that much was accurate. But what I had not counted on were the myriad twists and turns presented by both the story and accompanying art. Sebela's writing is very crisp, making this sort of a steam noir tale, if I may coin a new term. The writing is perfectly complemented by Joshua Hixson's drawings, which are simultaneously intricately nuanced and raw as a split lip. There is something to be said for using the environment as a character, which this story does constantly and consistently, but even more, the colors themselves become a character as well. The limited red/green palette Hixson uses is both economic and evocative. Combined with that raw, edgy style of his, it comes off as reminiscent of some of the best panels from the EC titles of the 1950s, like Tales From The Crypt and Vault of Horror. No two buts about it, this book is the very thing the Comics Code Authority was designed to fight against: It is pithy, violent, and absolutely wonderful.
I'm not much in the way of spoilers which is why I have not spoken much of the plot, or story that holds this book together like a weathered guy rope. Suffice to say that this issue kicks off the best (and most brutal) revenge tale I've seen since Tarantino's Kill Bill films. The only thing that kept me from scratching holes in my arms, Jonesing for issue #2 was a prompt re-reading of issue #1. If you haven't picked this one up yet, might I go so far as to highly suggest that you do so. This one's a keeper for sure.
Thanks for stopping by!
J. Schiek
PS: Thanks to my friends and business partners, Bo & Harrison Stewart, who were kind enough to get me a copy of #1 signed by both Christopher Sebela and Joshua Hixson at Heroes Con this past weekend. Mssr Hixson had just posted a picture of his table to Twitter and I managed to text these two fine gentlemen literally just as they had walked away from said table. Truly fate was at play that day. So, I guess what I'm saying is that I have two copies, so if you're having trouble tracking one down, hit me up and I'll see if we can't work something out.