Monday, April 14, 2014

1st Impressions: GHOST WOLF # 1

GHOST WOLF # 1
Written by El Torres
Art by Luis Czerniawski, SIKU and Sandra Molina
Amigo Comics


FLIPPING THROUGH:
                We start with a prologue that started with the world is young and learn the origin of Ghost Wolf. Fast forward a thousand years, still during the time of barbarians as the tribe of the Ghost Wolf have become enslaved by the cannibalistic army, the Bahatch.  We get introduced to Demne, our main character , as he still verbally battles against his enslavers. And it only costs him …in both good and bad ways.

ART:
                The art for this issue was solid. Czerniawski and Molina present a nicely rendered, gritty origin of Ghost Wolf.  We get the bloodstained origin in great, detailed glory. Czerniawski brought a great amount of detail in the battles as well as the background. Molina gives some really great color, giving darker tones of reds, browns and more to make the story match the tone … dark.
                Then the main story begins as our narrator is revealed to be a man known as Demne.  And Siku presents a detailed, very graphic opening tale for our lead. Siku brings us people of all shapes and sizes. The battles are gory. Yet, Siku has enough versatility to be able to draw great character moments. Siku also isn’t shy from using different angles and persepective. Siku’s style might turn some people off but I like it. It could be comparative to a fusion of Mike Mignola and Keith Giffen with Siku putting his own spin on it. I love the angles that Siku uses throughout the book. And while the people are detailed, the one thing that isn’t are the backgrounds. They are very simple. Siku’s colors make them very trippy and interesting … but detailed backgrounds are the only thing that really hurt this book. And honestly, it does not hurt it much at all. A great job by the art team.

WRITING:
                El Torres presents us a legend told in the ways of old, verbally. That personal connection to the main character was easily established in the prologue and carries through the entire book because of the way this issue was told.  Torres makes you come into this world where the Ghost Wolf is among the greats.
                Torres tells both stories this issue well, making the pacing for both roll by and merge together wonderfully. The dialogue, what little of it, told us a little of our characters and world that Ghost Wolf is in. There is a sense of the theme that you have to give up something to get someone you want and Torres blends that in seamlessly.
                The book is a beginning of a legend. Torres firmly establishes his versatility as a writer with the narration and the story structure. A fantastically well-written first issue.

OVERALL IMPRESSION:
                Ghost Wolf # 1 is one of the better first issues of the year. It establishes our main character. It does something uncommon in terms of storytelling. The art is good. And the story is amazing.

RATING:

                I give Ghost Wolf # 1 an 8 …. Out of 10. Buy it when it hits shelves!!!


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