I can't tell is DC Comics has a lot of faith in Sam Kieth's work or little. The argument for the former is that they continue to publish his projects, despite the unconventional nature of the characters and his artwork. On the other hand, the Batman is plastered on the cover and the first two pages of this comic book even though he has nothing to do with the plot (at least not at this early juncture). Kieth's oddball characters and exaggerated art, both full of personality, make for an engaging read, but the plot doesn't come across the most original thing to hit comics or anything. There's four more issues for this book to distinguish itself, though, but the fact that the title character is headed for an inevitable sales push... er, encounter with the Dark Knight doesn't fill me with hope.
Like all teenagers, Zack yearns to be accepted, to be seen as normal, but a disfigured finger precludes that possibility. On his 15th birthday, all hope of a normal life is lost when a peculiar itch sends Zack out into the night, in the light of a full moon, when the furry and feral quality of his finger asserts itself throughout his body. Zack transforms into a werewolf, and he's filled with power but no way to control it. Upon returning to normal, he's discovered by a family of freaks, local residents whose bodies were ravaged by government nuclear tests. They've got some problems of their own, and Zack could hold the key to solving them.
Kieth's dark style suits the supernatural nature of the title character nicely, and his flair for distorted anatomy brings the lycanthropic transformation to life perfectly. Kieth's art also captures the power and ferocity of the werewolf nicely, and it suits the misshapen innocents who befriend the main character. I like how Kieth instills an ugliness and a beauty in Sage Perkins. When he introduces her character, Kieth is careful to grant her an angelic quality that never fades even after the hazy halo does. My only real qualm with the art here is that the backgrounds are rayther lacking at times.
Kieth visits familiar thematic terrain with this limited series. From The Maxx to Zero Girl, he seems most at home when telling stories about outsiders. He seems to favor unveiling the humanity behind the surreal characters who populate his brain. It's an effective approach to storytelling, though, since we've all felt like freaks, felt left out and shunned.
The Batman's apparent role in this story puts me in mind of the Batman/Swamp Thing stories from The Brave and the Bold in the 1980s. The two characters don't fit in each other's world, but it worked because the Batman stood out as the voice of reason and compassion in those tales. I don't know that the same thing will work now with the grimmer vision of the Dark Knight that's in popular use today.
