‘Reanimator Incorporated Chapter 1’
Written by Andy Perry.
Art by Lyndon White.
Story Editors - Fred McNamara and Chris Holmes.
Copy Editor - Jack Jennings.
Softcover - US Comics Size.
Full Colour - 62 pages.
The Story - ‘Reanimating the dead requires some serious soul-searching. In a moment of fantastic whim, I whispered questions to the reddening ears… “Where have you been?”
Bloody-minded scientist, Herbert West struggles to reanimate the dead, while his partner, Cain struggles with the morality of their morbid task. Under mounting pressure from newly appointed CEO, Erica Lee, West’s determination to perfect his atomic reanimation unit leaves his ethics, subjects and family in limbo. Meanwhile, West’s son, Mike, striving for both respect and humility from his father, makes a fatal step beyond with his experimental Tillinghast Resonator. As father and son push the boundaries of science to breaking point, ructions within the infernos of hell expose a much greater, theological threat.’
- Warnings - This is a Preview and may contain small spoilers. Due to the current situation it is likely that the book will be getting Kickstarted in June. Then released at a convention later in the year. -
The Review - It is worth remembering that this is Chapter 1 of not just a comic but a horror comic. It does indeed spend a good deal of the time building up the story and establishing the characters that if I was totally honest did feel a little long and by the time the full on horror assault begins I was yearning for something more to happen. But it does during this time also successfully build up quite a lot of tension. Sure, this tension does ebb and flow somewhat but it’s there nonetheless.
I also feel that the cover is well worth a mention. I found it a little misleading in regards to what I found in this first chapter and it was reminiscent more of an issue of A.B.C. Warriors or maybe the movies Hardware or even Terminator. But it is a very striking image that has an iconic edge that is ideal for a ComiXology page for example. I’m hoping we see more of this image and the skeletons character it shows in Chapter 2.
The story is however well told and the characters in the most part are well realised and engaging. Personally I think that a story told in issues like this could really do with some more action front-loaded to keep the readers engaged. The ending takes quite a turn stylistically and is the most visually stunning part of the book by far. Lyndon carried out some bravely choreographed scenes with his usual style and clearly constructed visuals. His characters have an everyman appearance but I’d like to see a touch more detail in the faces from time to time - for example the father and son don’t look that distant in age.
There is a distinct style of colouring to these pages that I immediately noticed. They boldly direct almost a theme to each sequence. The meeting in the conference room and the streets of the city use a watercolour red and pink as if the world is ending and the skies are bleeding with the rapture. Whilst the laboratory scenes often have an underwater blue or a glowing green - colours of nature and the wildness of it perhaps. But as the laboratory experiments accelerate the red begins to seep into the panels. It’s a genuinely intriguing approach.
The early slowness of the book is easily forgotten as you read the last act. There’s a lot to take in there including that clash of religion against science that is talked about earlier on. This will hopefully set up for a celestial confrontation going forward and there is one page where a ‘being’ is shown that was outstandingly realised! The dialogue also has an individual voice and I could tell the different personalities from just what was said.
I’m not as acquainted with Andy’s writing as I am with Lyndon’s art but I can say that this looks and reads like a slick and professionally produced start to a series. The uneven pacing is something that I am sure will improve going forward and with a couple of story editors on this I’m sure they will sort it out.
Watch out on Kickstarter in a couple of months for this book dropping.
You can find Lyndon on his twitter @lyndondraws or over at his site here http://lyndonwhite.com/
Andy Perry can be found here on Twitter @Quaktion
Many thanks for reading.
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