Dynamite Entertainment 2015
Written by Frank J. Barbiere
Illustrated by Crizam Cristhian Zamora
Coloured by Dinei Ribeiro
Lettered by Troy Peteri
In the sprawling, steampunk metropolis known as The Big City, it is the sworn duty of one group to keep the peace and uphold the law: the officers of The Precinct! Mortimer Hill is a veteran officer who has busted his fair share of criminals, but when a high-ranking official ends up dead and mechanical monsters and a mysterious murder start causing trouble, he’ll need to use all his wits to get to the heart of the mystery…
There are plenty of companies that do Steampunk, some specialize in it but i’ve never gotten into it, not really. Until Dynamite started taking characters I was familiar with and gave put them in this genre. So for me to jump into this book with no clearly known characters says a lot about what they’ve been able to accomplish bring Steampunk to a more mainstream audience. I think a lot has to do with the quality of the storytelling though and with Frank helming this one it was kind of a no brainer for me.
There are a number of reasons why the story here will resonate with readers. Detective Mortimer Hill is a man on a mission, with nothing to prove he does his job the best way he knows how. He’s gruff, short and something of an ass but he does this for all the right reasons and he’s damn good at it too. He’s missing an arm which has been replaced with a mechanical one so there’s a backstory here we’re not familiar with which adds a touch of mystery.
There is a yin to his yang in this story as well. Acolyte Josephine Winters of the Alchemy Academy. Now the Alchemy Academy has aspects of a few things for me most notably the church albeit if it were founded by druids. So these almost celestial type people and you have to read the story to understand why i’m using that word try to keep the spiritual happiness of the citizens high. Also they seem to have a rather strong grasp on the politics going on in The Big City. So they have this weird power and influence that doesn’t sit well with Mortimer.
With the already tense working relationship there’s still a mystery to solve here. Why are high ranking officials being murdered and who is responsible. With mechanical monsters being the instrument of the murders how can Mortimer and Josephine combat such things when they can’t even get along? Frank takes a world where science and magic combine to create a dreamlike world and populates it with people we can all relate to making this an exciting new offering in the world of comics.
Crizam and Dinei’s interiors really bring this world to life wonderfully. As Mortimer overlooks his city it’s gorgeously rendered full of hope and imagination. Everything they bring, from page and panel layouts to subtle colour changes and the attention to detail everywhere you look is breathtaking. Even Jules is simply a scene stealer.
This is a great offering and a new look on a classic kind of story. Entertaining, imaginative and gorgeous this is one not to be overlooked.