American Mythology Productions 2016
Written by Jack Herman
Illustrated by Neil Vokes & Rich Rankin
It’s the 30th anniversary of Neil Vokes and Rich Rankin’s innovative black & white comic Death’s Dark Angel! Originally published as Death’s Head by Crystal Comics, the story featured the deadly future echo of Eagle which evolved into a terrifying twisted version of the man he was. Now the silent killer has turned his sights on his past self and is set upon destroying those in the way of his singular mission. This edition has been fully remastered with an incredible ink wash finish that brings new life to the original story pages. And the Vokesverse continues to expand and gives us a first look at an all new Death’s Dark Angel story coming later this year! This is the ultimate introduction to the fertile imagination and characters of a comic book artistic legend!
This was completely cool! Thirty years ago this debuted and one might say it was way ahead of it’s time because it totally was. Today this almost seems like standard fare to me but the storytelling and characterization we get from this was absolutely incredible. As far as first issues go this was a great introduction to this world and to Dark Angel as well as his pseudo origin. I say this because while we see how and why he was created there’s a lot more here left open-ended. The church, it’s legend and history are all touched upon but who he is now that he’s been resurrected from the dead remains to be seen.
Vengeance from the “host” body is clear to understand and the way that this futuristic world has been shown thus far show us a greater picture that will be revealed. With new stories coming i’m incredibly excited at the prospect of what will come. The creativity and imagination in creating the Talik Hunting Dogs is impressive. The whole premise of this new civilization and the Regulators and those running the world and how fear is a strong factor in keeping things running smoothly offer a lot of promise and potential.
The black and white interiors with gray tones for me are the perfect way to go here. The flow of the story through pages and panels again is way ahead of it’s time. The work here is great as it shows emotion, feeling and the kind of tension and horror that Death Angel represents. It also has this great Noir feel to it in how it’s presented so the combination is so nice and fresh even now.
It’s easy to see which characters were influenced by this character over the years. This creation is great for this current era and that we’re getting a look at what started it before a new set of stories comes is something you need to be adding to your list. It’s strong, passionate and well executed this story is going to impress!