the arcane #1: comic book review

Friday, 13 December 2013 05:55

‘The Arcane #1:’ Comic

Book ReviewWritten by Madeleine Holly-Rosing, Fanboy Comics Guest Contributor

Titanium Comics, the comic book arm of Titanium Publishing, LLC, is

having a very busy year with the launching of four titles. Having

purchased the rights to the characters and stories of Digital Revolver

Studios a few years ago, they have jumped right into creating new

comic book series.

The first of these was Age of Darkness #1 which launched in time for

Halloween. The second is a supernatural western called The Arcane

#1 which debuted in November of this year. Created by Don McLiam

and written by Andy Wolfendon, writer of the hilarious 2002 PC and

Gamecube game Darkened Skye, it is illustrated by Paolo D' Antonio,

colored by Marco Pagnotta, and lettered by Crank.

The story unfolds in an Arizona town by the name of Canaan’s Sorrow.

A desolate place with only an abandoned hotel, a run-down church, a

few buildings, and a saloon, one wonders why anyone still lives there

let alone how they make a living. The saloon is run by a single mom

named Quinn whose young son, Phelan, is much more than what he

appears to be. With the arrival of a group of faceless men with red

demon eyes and powers which defy man and God, the town is scared

to death. Their demand is simple: the town must turn over the “Books”

or face dire consequences; however, the townspeople are unwilling to

ask for help from the only man who could help them – Jeremiah

Arcane. A man they ran out of town years ago presumably because he

scares them more then these red-eyed guys do.

Quinn is the only one willing to do what no one else is and searches

out Jeremiah revealing another secret along the way. Finding

Jeremiah through his mother, we and Jeremiah learn his father had

discovered ancient symbols which allowed him to transverse time and

space. What’s worse, his father almost sold the symbols to the devil in

exchange for the safe birth of his child (not Jeremiah). He backed out

at the last minute but paid a heavy price; each of his offspring would

possess some sort of supernatural power; however, Jeremiah’s father

was smart enough to hide the symbols in a series of “books” which

0

0

LikeLike

Tweet

0

Follow

Fanboy Comics - ‘The Arcane #1:’ Comic Book Review http://fanboycomics.net/index.php/blogs/guest-contributors/item/3151-the...

1 of 3 12/13/2013 7:05 PM

Read 14 times

Tweet 0

were left with his five sons, four more brothers than Jeremiah knew

about. Tasked with finding all of his brothers and the books before the

minions of the devil do, Jeremiah sets out on a long and arduous

journey.

One of the issues I had with the story was that I found it odd that once

we met Jeremiah and saw that he was basically a nice guy, why the

town wasn’t begging for his help. Though somewhat troubled and

burdened with a dark past, he is clearly a better alternative than the

red-eyed demons who blasted a hole in the abandoned hotel.

It also appeared that Jeremiah’s brothers knew about each others'

existence before they were “called” to meet together, but it was obvious

they did not know each other well. So, I was taken aback by how

quickly they formed up into a team. They willingly went into danger

knowing they would have to work together in order to survive, but it felt

like it was forced and too soon for that to happen. They also knew

about the others’ fighting abilities, yet how would they know this when

they had limited contact with each other? I would have liked to see at

least one of the brothers resist the “call” to meet in order to add more

conflict and dynamics to the story and advance character development.

Hopefully, in later issues, we will see more divisiveness among the

brothers, which will make their task even more difficult, yet more fun for

the reader.

Though a convoluted story, overall, it is well executed. The art style fits

the tone as well as the coloring. I particularly liked the choice of font for

the letter from his father. It was easily readable but had a handwritten

quality about it. (I’m not a font person, so if it fits the time and place and

I can read it, all is good.) Being a paranormal and a western fan, I liked

the premise, and I think it has a lot of potential. I do hope we see more

clever uses of what was available during that time period to help defeat

this evil and not just supernatural power. Sometimes, using seemingly

innocuous old tech can have the most impact.

I look forward to the second issue coming out in January 2014.

Madeleine Holly-Rosing, FanboyComics GuestContributor

Be the first of your friends to like

this.LikeLike


2 of 3 12/13/2013 7:05 PM

0 comments

Enter to Win

‘Hunger Games’

•

Avatar —

Thanks for entering,

Sarah, and

Ep. #010 The

'PREVIEWS' Party

•

Avatar —

HAHAHA! Special

hell . . .

Sick Puppy Pictures

and

•

Avatar — Okay,

this sounds just

kooky enough that

Enter to Win Limited

Edition Prints from

•

Avatar —

Thank You! It's the

one I wanted to win,

Best

★


3 of 3 12/13/2013 7:05 PM

the arcane #1: comic book review

Entertainment & Humor