Last Week’s Comics Reviewed 5/18/2011

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Brimstone #1

Zenescope (writers: Michael Lent & Brian McCarthy; art: Hyunsang Cho):

Brimstone is a mixture of Native American history, white supremacy, and zombies of some kind. The story involves a group of Native Americans that are forced out of a set of mines that are filled with a very valuable substance which causes forces – religious and otherwise – to force them out when they won’t leave peacefully.  Michael Lent and Brian McCarthy’s story has the feel of an old horror movie. Not something as camp as the zombie movies of the seventies, but something that feels real. Something that preys on the weak, the scared, and the obtuse.

Brimstone’s weakness falls in two places. First, its pacing -we get a band of people together (a group of murderers and what not) who plan to invade the village in which the last group of people has been seen, but we’re treated to a detailed explanation about their arrival to camp. This is snore-inducing narration as the days fly by too quickly at points, and then hang around longer than appreciated at others. Also, we’re given a vague conclusion that is meant – I think – to lead to a longer arc about the heroes of the story.

While I liked the idea of Brimstone, it falls flat of some of the other stories on the market. I would only recommend this if you’re a fan of the Lone Ranger series published by Dynamite Entertainment. Brimstone has the same feel as a western epic, but it’s short on its bigger plot lines. Hopefully, this is fixed for later issues. Zenescope seems to have zombies down (see The Waking); now we’ll have to see if Brimstone delivers.

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Nether World #1

Top Cow/Image/Heroes and Villains (writers: Bryan Edward Hill & Rob Levin; art: Tony Shasteen):

This starts as a usual bounty hunter/private investigator story. Then, Bryan Hill and Rob Levin drop a bombshell on us in the last page, and the comic becomes worth the price of admission.

I liked Nether World. About three quarters of the way through the story, I decided this was an uneventful plot, not utilizing anything supernatural, ephemeral, or other-worldly. I thought, “This is a story about a guy trying to track down a girl, and the heads he must break in the process.”

But boy was I wrong. Nether world spends the first twenty-two pages on character development, a point which works well with such an abstract concept. Ray Parker is much like Jesse Custer of Preacher: he’s dark, violent, full of addictions, and he is expertly portrayed by his scruffied chin.

I think Nether World has the beginnings of an engaging series. Much like Preacher, there are undertones of supernatural forces, a back story full of tragedy and intrigue – a back story waiting to be told – and a hidden conspiracy that will eventually unfold itself.

I think Bryan Hill and Rob Levin have done a superb job in their debut for the series. It has everything you want from a first issue – a bigger arc, engaging characters, secrets galore – yet it offers readers quite a bit of substance in the first read. I’ll be following this series, and I suggest you do as well.

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