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WildStorm Comics
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray
Art by Adam Archer and Peter Guzman
The echo of Jason lingers through the forest on a dark night. Actually, it’s me trying the scare the crap out of neighboring campers. It’s addictive, and so is the man wearing a hockey mask, holding a monstrous machete.
With new publisher, WildStorm, a division of big house, DC Comics, the Friday the 13th comic book series starts again with a fresh start and a new tone. One unlike any before it, this first issue gives horror fans something often coveted and mostly ignored in horror films: intelligence! Writer Jimmy Palmiotti, a veteran of comic books, along with Justin Gray craft a tale that relies heavily on delivery rather than… than… oh, the new gadget Jason will use to kill his next victim. Weshew! Almost blanked there for a second. But all humor aside, this isn’t your typical Friday fare. It’s smart and renewed, a much needed double team to a franchise that is running out of ideas.
Don’t get me wrong, the usual elements used in the movies are there. The dumb kids going to Camp Crystal Lake to have sex with their girlfriend or local camp counselor, the attitude that factual backgrounds are still fictional to today’s standards, and the usual vixen busting out of her swimsuit, just begging for that machete to fix her top permanently all appear to carry on that popular Friday legend. Jason is also here, seen briefly in the beginning, but waiting in the shadows while we learn his backstory from the resident Google geek. It’s a buildup to the character, and though horror fans love their Jason getting bloody as much as possible, his low exposure in the first issue is necessary to it more thrilling. I call it the “Jaws Technique”, though Steven Spielberg probably invented it. Just didn’t name it is all, but the gist is, less is more for the monster and audience. It’s not trying to reinvent the Jason lore either, but rather reintroduce it so that everyone is on the same page. It’s a steel line drawn in the comic book, and one that’s perfectly drawn so that fans can hop on and enjoy the ride… together.
The art is fantastic, and though there is no nudity (yet?), it does make the ladies visually appealing like the movies did. Archer and Guzman seem to love the ladies with big juggs, and go all out to please without overdoing it too much. The men either look tough, tree-huggerish, or like punks, so nothing strays far from the film series there. But as those last few pages come up in issue #1, fans are treated to another side of Friday the 13th horror: The Supernatural. Jason’s dead children reach up from the depths of the lake to grab a hold a female swimmer, whom is actually a great swimmer at that, and cause readers to take a moment and say, “Whoa. Did that just happen?” A very memorable scene, and a smart addition of psychology from Palmiotti and Gray.
WildStorm’s direction for Jason Voorhees is an exciting one, and for those that just weren’t digging books from previous publisher, Avatar Press, should give this book a chance. I like where this is going, and I can’t wait for Jason to appear. A perfect cliffhanger to get me to buy issue two. Bravo, WildStorm. Bravo.
GRADE: A
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