Once again, I must applaud new publisher Alias Enterprises for offering low-cost debut issues; it's definitely an excellent way for a new player in the comics industry to attract the attention of readers who might otherwise be reluctant to try out new material. Unfortunately, that's where my praise ends, as this stands out as the weakest effort the publisher has presented so far. As if the title weren't enough of an indicator, Lethal Instinct embraces cop-story cliches in the extreme while foregoing any pretense of plausibility or logic. The line art is capable but ultimately generic and occasionally inconsistent. Even with the 75-cent cover price, readers ought to give this book a pass.
Blackstone City homicide detective Frank Aaron is a cop with a secret. The police department's physician and his partner are helping him to keep it a secret, but he's beginning to lose control of himself. Frank's a werewolf, and when he's summoned to a murder scene at which a family has been ripped to shreds by some kind of animal, he fears he may be responsible. What Frank doesn't know is that there are mysterious forces conspiring in Blackstone City, and one of those involved is his own commanding officer.
Jadson's design for the werewolves in this story are fairly typical ones. As such, they seem a bit tired and uninteresting even though they convey the ferocity and power they're meant to. The T&A factor in this comic is amped up a fair bit, far too much, given what little the female characters have to do in this script. It seems that the women serve only to bring sex appeal to the book, and it's transparent and gratuitous. The lettering could be stronger as well. Mistakes pop up, and the text often crowds the art.
Cop-drama cliches abound in this book, and they're thoroughly distracting. A cop stops a carload of suspects by taking out a tire with one shot. The gruff captain gives his rogue detectives a hard time. A female officer is thrilled to get a chance to prove herself. Cops tell the media to "piss off," treating them as though they are the enemy. That's just a sample of the groan-inducing ideas that pass for plotting and scripting in this book.
The biggest problem with the story is that the hero is a homicide detective who believes he's responsible for a number of murders and yet he manages to rationalize a reason to keep his mouth shut. His silence, as well as his partner's and the doctor's, makes absolutely no sense. All three characters seem to be aware of inevitability that the secret will be exposed and that people will get hurt in the process, and yet they do nothing. It makes no sense, and it casts the "heroes" of the book is a thoroughly negative light. 2/10
