Sunday, April 10, 2011

Solomon Kane: Red Shadows #1 (0f 4)

Robert E. Howard's puritanical demon hunter Solomon Kane is back in a new mini-series, and thankfully he looks more like is old self - which is to say, he's not being depicted as an albino.

Instead, he's what Howard always described - a pale man dressed in black clothing, hunting down the agents of Satan on Earth.

This time around his adventures are being written and/or adapted by industry professional Bruce Jones, who's a long-time master at twist endings and surprising story twists.

In this first chapter of the mini-series "Red Shadows," Jones starts out with a fairly standard tale of a monster on the moor (it's not a giant hound, thank goodness) and the tale of revenge and murder behind the monster.

The art is by Rahsan Ekedel, whose work I'm not familiar with - but he turns in a strong effort here, with dark, scenic layouts, a truly horrific creature and some good character work. He's ably supported by the striking color art by Dan Jackson.

The ending doesn't feel quite right to me, but overall it's a strong effort and seems an improvement on earlier comics in the series - and they weren't bad at all.

Looking forward to the next chapter!

Grade: B+

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