My lack of familiarity with this property, the high price point and the corny name of the title character didn't exactly make me eager to read this particular one-shot, but what did pique my interest was another name on the front: Cereno's. I enjoyed the writers work on a previous one-shot from the same publisher -- Tales From the Bully Pulpit -- so I figured this might be stronger than I suspected. And so it was... a lot stronger, in fact. In a series of short stories, Benito Cereno brings to life a supernatural hero as interesting and entertaining as Mike Mignola's Hellboy. The property is as suited for eerie adventure as it is for humor storytelling, and the quirky character concepts and designs never disappoint.
From birth, everyone knew Hector was special. With the ability to see ghosts and demons that hide in plain sight, Hector was groomed to be a Benandante, a supernatural warrior fighting to protect the living and eradicate the malevolent dead. Dubbed Hector Plasm by one of his many mentors, he ventures out into the world, looking for the unusual and dangerous spirits that can be found all over the globe. Joined by his own personal angel and demon -- the Saint and the Sinner -- and armed with various supernatural weapons, Hector is a forced to be reckoned with, but he's also a curious soul who knows not all ghosts are nasty.
Bellegarde's artwork on this one-shot is much stronger than what we saw from him two weeks ago in Loaded Bible: Jesus Vs. Vampires, another one-shot from Image. His work here reminds me of the styles of Farel (Pop Gun War) Dalrymple, Arthur (Tom Strong's Terrific Tales) Adams and Kevin (League of Extraordinary Gentlemen) O'Neill. The beatnik design for the Sinner is a real treat. The ghosts throughout the book remind me of Guy (The Marquis) Davis's and movie director Tim Burton's eye for design. The colors are vibrant and really add a lot to the book's energy and sense of wonder.
There's also a Japanese influence at play in the art that's undeniable, and it's in keeping with slightly manga-esque leanings in the writing as well. Cereno's use of the body's "humours" not only reinforces the arcane nature of story elements and the premise, but adds a surreal quality to the action at times that's very much Eastern in tone. One of the things I enjoyed so much about this book was its effort to embrace a diverse array of cultures to arrive at an original, exotic tone.
Ultimately, what wins the reader over is that there's an inherent sense of fun to the property. Though there's action, death and a touch of tragedy from time to time, writer and creator Beinto Cereno never takes things too seriously. Though one story ages the title character 10 years, he boasts a youthful energy that's infectious. The playfulness of the dialogue and some of the circumstances is truly entertaining and it leaves the reader thirsting for more spectral storytelling. 9/10
