Sunday, January 18, 2009

Hexed #1 (2009)

I saw this over at io9 earlier.

Michael Alan Wilson has unleashed Hexed #1 along with the capable Emma Rios, starring a female "occult" thief named Lucifer. Seriously. I love thieving main characters almost as much as I love the occult, so it's hard for me to be wholly objective here. Good thing I don't have to be. The first issue of Hexed kicks a lot of ass, and Lucifer seems poised to become another one of my growing list of beloved cutpurses.

The art is crisp and haunting, with a rather unique color scheme provided by Cris Peter that is both vibrant and spectral in turn. I have only read it in digital form, but once I pick it up on paper I have no doubts that it will be far better than the washed out LCD display of my laptop can show. Lucifer is an instantly likable character, surrounded by a surprisingly memorable and vivid cast. I would be hard pressed to tell you the last time I had a good picture in my head of every character I met in the first issue of a comic. Hexed imprinted it's denizens on me effortlessly.


Hexed does everything that the first issue of a comic should. It introduces solid characters, throws you into a subtly deep universe you'll want to keep exploring, and gets it's hooks in before letting you go on with your life. Wilson gives just enough hints about the mythos of his world to make it interesting without blowing his wad, and what little we see is dynamic, if not wholly unique. Interestingly enough, I am reminded on more than one occasion of Vertigo's Lucifer series, one of my all-time favorites. If Wilson manages to keep that up, only good things will follow.

Hexed also has a rather unique distribution model, with every issue being released both in comic stores and free online. If you're interested, you can grab the first issue from Myspace Comics (ugh) here. Once you've read it, I highly recommend picking it up from your local comic book store. I'm going to have to give some of Mr. Wilson and Ms. Rios' other work a look.


Verdict: Epic Win [9/10]

http://www.boom-studios.net/hexed-1-cover-a.html

3 comments:

Rhan said...

Vertigo's Lucifer was ace. I'll definitely check this out(especially since it's free online and all).

Rhan said...

Okay, read it. This is very intriguing, and I really like what I've seen of the mythos so far. Your review was pretty much spot on.

Anonymous said...

Glad you liked it Rhan. I'm completely sold on this title, and I don't get excited about comics too often.