Hexed #1 (Boom! – Nelson / Rios / Peters)
Explosive first issue! It’s said there’s no honor amongst thieves. Add to that a thief operating in the occult underground, and it’s a whole different kind of nasty! Luci Jennifer Inagcio Das Neves, Lucifer for short, takes a new job that will expose her to the macabre underbelly of the city, and a secret that she’d rather nobody know. A brand new series by Michael Alan Nelson, the critically acclaimed author of FALL OF CTHULHU, hot new art talent Emma Rios and colorist Cris Peters! Available with two cover by Emma Rios and Joe Pekar.
As far as it goes nowadays, action stories with supernatural protagonists are almost cliche. Every network has a show on about do-gooder spell-casters, communicators with the dead, monster-hunters or whatever else might fit in that box. Movies about such character-types don’t even raise eyebrows anymore and are usually direct to video or on Sci-fi. So, when I read the synopsis of Hexed, I thought to myself, here comes more of the same. Wrongo! From the opening anrrative, Michael Alan Nelson’s tale grabs the reader tightly and doesn’t let go.
Luci, a witch-esque thief – sort of a female version of John Constantine, is on the run from her past and is using her mystic powers and know-how to make herself a living in the world. Sounds pretty standard, it’s not so much the premise of this book that makes it stand out, but the way the story is told. Luci’s running inner-dialog combined with some pretty innovative page layouts make for a compelling tale. Now add on top of that, the skillful art of industry newbie Emma Rios and you have a winner. She has a flowing style that has an anime feel to it, but it still has enough clarity and action definition that it doesn’t feel like a Saturday morning cartoon. This is a phenomenal freshman project for Rios and I can’t help but think we will see a great deal more from her in the future.
Any fan of supernatural action (Buffy, Angel, Dresden, etc.) can get their fix here! Quite possibly the best book Boom has out!
Issue Grade: A
