Review: The 13th Son # 1

I wasn't planning on running another review just yet, but this excellent issue [from Nov. 2005] was passed along to me recently by my brother (he also included the 2nd issue). Artist/creator Kelley Jones really knocks this one out of the park, folks. If you're one of us codgers who thinks that "fun" is sorely missing from standard comics fare these days, well you'll find boatloads of it in this superlative first issue (of a four issue mini-series).

Some reviews that I've read compare elements of the featured artwork to Jones previous work on Batman, even going so far as to suggest that this first adventure of the 13th Son was more superhero than horror.

Maybe!

Jones goes all out in his design work on both the titular character and the legion of monsters that he encounters (and slays for some hidden & mysterious agenda). The 13th Son may whack a few night creatures, but that doesn't mean he's one of the good guys. And that's part of the appeal.

I haven't seen Kelley's Batman work, but I could see drawing a favorable comparison to bronze age supernatural titles like Ghost Rider, Man-Thing, Brother Voodoo, House of Mystery or Phantom Stranger ..... and that's fine company. No matter what your comics tastes run to, I would heartily recommend that you seek out this excellent mini-series from Dark Horse Comics.

Don't worry if you have any difficulty in locating it either. A trade paperback collecting the entire series is due out in September 2007.