So what this first issue does is really introduce us to the world these characters will inhabit and I’m guessing the catalyst as to why we end up meeting them. As a group of amateur ghost hunters looking to make it big via Youtube style ghost hunting things take a dangerous and unexpected turn of events. Sounds like the premise for a bad horror movie right? It is but this one actually is better than the movie counterparts I’ve gleefully watched.
James does a really good job in making this feel authentic. By that I mean the kids really try to emulate the series they admire which got them started doing this to begin with. I’m sure they are used to going places that are scary but harmless in their search for ghosts. Creative editing or noises are usually enough for most people to be sufficiently freaked out. So that the characterisation is so spot on as well as the way the whole premise is being presented gives me some great hope for the rest of this series.
The interiors here are very manga/anime to my eyes. If they hadn’t introduced him as Chad I woulda sworn it was a female character. While the use of page layouts with the use of angles and perspective are incredibly well utilised and we get some great moments of real tension the style leaves me less than scared. This is the kind of book that needs to scare and frighten the readers and honestly I find it more cute than threatening.
While the interiors may not be to my liking or preference when it comes to this particular venture the writing more than makes up for it. I like the way the issue is structured, how we see the nature of these kids play out under the circumstances. The events as they unfold leave you wondering what’s happening and as the reasons become clear everything really starts to amp up.
After all this time you can kind of tell when something has that “IT” factor and this one definitely has it.
You can help support it by going to kickstarter and pledging
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1243350240/horrors-inc-squad-k-issue-1-an-indie-comic
Editor’s Note: Horrors, Inc: Squad K currently has 8 days left to reach its funding goal of 4, 500 and with your help, it’ll surely succeed!
Horrors, Inc. Squad K #1
Self-Published 2017
Written by: James R. Vernon
Illustrated by: Dedy Koerniawan
Reviewer: Steven Leitman
Summary: Imagine that every myth, ghost story, and monster were based on something that existed in the modern world. Magic was real. Strange artifacts that can perform miraculous events, including connecting our world to others and the gods that inhabit them, can be found. Or created.
This is the world of Horrors, Inc.
What if a few mega corporations, in cooperation with the governments of the world, kept it all from the general public? How could such a world-wide coverup exist with monsters and worse loose in the world? By those same companies employing the best minds to study the strange and weird. By enlisting the best soldiers(and killers) in the world to track the bizarre and dangerous down and “acquire” them. Regardless of the collateral damage.
