Image Comics 2015
Written by Phil Hester
Illustrated by John McCrea
Coloured by Michael Spicer
Mythic Lore Services Field Team #8, consisting of Apache shaman Watson, Greek immortal Cassandra, and form cellphone store employee Nate Jayadarma, was called to the scene of a seve droug‚ in the westn United States. In an effort to convince the mountains and the clouds to “mate,” thus producing much needed rain, Watson called forth his twin alt ego, the monstrous Kill of Enemies. Meanwhile, oth Mythic field teams deal with crises of their own.
This is one of those books that you know the creators and their work and but could never be prepared for. Phil is stretching is mental muscle in ways i’m unused to and I’ve read a lot of different genre’s he has done by fully embracing the supernatural world in ways that may appear the unusual route but one that is infinitely more interesting than what we’ve come to expect. While John and Michael put their spin on the words bringing them to life in ways that fuel the imagination and could quite possibly be some of their finest work to date.
Well after the events that we saw in the first issue we now turn our attention to other field teams for Mythic Lore Services as they face another giant waking up though they aren’t as lucky to survive their encounter and then there’s what I consider to be one of the creepiest things you can possibly imagine a little girl of immense power and with that dead look that puts you instantly on edge and feared in every horror movie. What she’s about however will have to wait till later but suffice it to say she’s something creepy that needs keeping an eye on.
Back in the desert we see the outcome of what started last issue. I love Phil’s writing and the dialogue and the way this plays out is hella good. It’s got humor, incredulous thinking and execution of plans that on the surface make no sense till all is said and done and you realize the genius behind it. So what we see at the beginning of this issue is something so large and epic in it’s scope that it’s almost incomprehensible for Team 8 to wrap their head around but it looks like they will be Mythic Lore Services last and best hope for dealing with what’s to come.
Also the creepy/scary girl child we see has a revelation moment of her own here to close the issue out. Completely unexpected and deliciously unique in it’s execution I have to say that suddenly the interest factor jumped at least 150% in nature with that one reveal.
Everything has a cycle horror/supernatural stories tend to all come out with the same type of stories at the same time, see vampires, ghosts, werewolves or zombies having the rotating spotlight but now it seems the new thing is go more cerebral in nature and throw out the rules and mix everything together so that there are no longer any rotations but it’s all fair game to share them all in one universe at the same time. This is thinking man’s horror that’s wrapped up in imagery meant to fuel the imagination and to make you slightly afraid.
These gentlemen have taken this a new level so far creating a world where things that go bump in the night share the spotlight with gods and monsters from the darkest of realms. All to be dealt with by teams of humans who secretly protect the population at large keeping them from realizing the real world they live in.
This is the kind of storytelling we live for.