I should begin this review by a confession: I am a lover of alternative comics. When I say that, I don't mean subversive, scandalous, seamy (although a little of that now and then ain't bad). What I mean is a side of comics that varies from the Big Two's spandex-clad, endlessly resurrected hero, whose antangonists seem like carbon-copies of each other.
Dark Horse has been filling this niche for years, providing a great platform for owner-creators, where originality is King. If you haven't wandered through the back catalogues of Dark Horse Presents or Dark Horse Comics, you owe it to yourself to take a look. There, you will find a startling array of award winning material, and often at great prices on the back-issue market. But I digress.
Solomon Kane is a quintessential Dark Horse product. The tone of this book is completely different from anything I have read in terms of its pacing and the characteristics of the hero, Solomon Kane. Kane goes about his way in an unhurried, self-assured fashion like a leaf in the wind...like Kwai Chang Caine walking the world.
The book is written by Scott Allie, longtime editor for many, many great Dark Horse titles, including the entire Hellboy family of books, Buffy, Goon and countless others, but more importantly, he has written scores of stories including Star Wars, Dark Horse Books of Hauntings, Ghosts, Witchcraft, etc., etc. The quality of this background shows through in the writing of this book, showing beautiful pacing, economy, 'real' dialog, and a sense of poetry.
The interior artwork is handled by comic-newcomer Mario Guervara, whose previous credits include the one-shot 'Lone Ranger and Tonto' from Dynamite and a handful of covers for 'Bloodrayne: Red Blood Run'. The work is in finished pencils and is flat-out gorgeous, and the influences of Joe Kubert and Gary Gianni can be seen. Colors are by the masterful and subtle Dave Stewart. Of the two available cover, who could choose between Joe Kubert and John Cassaday? The bonus to the Kubert cover, though, is that if forms part of a tryptic (a three-panel piece of art for you nubes) with the covers of Conan the Cimmerian #1 and the forthcoming Kull #1.
Happy reading!