When I look at something new in comics, I'm usually hoping for a distinctive voice, something that sets it apart from what has come before. Sea of Red definitely has that, with a beautiful, strange sepia-toned style of artwork and a haunting, horrifying tone reminiscent of Bram Stoker's Dracula. Remender fuses a couple of popular concepts, pirates and vampires, but he doesn't stop there, instead building up some very interesting characters and building mood very effectively, with help from the jaw-dropping and unusual artwork by Dwyer and Sam.
Remender grounds this outlandish story of pirates and vampires in something that the reader can instantly understand, a personal sort of horror that really gets under the reader's skin. The opening sequence, which is also doubled at the end since most of the issue is a flashback to how our lead character got there, sets the tone almost immediately, with a mixture of hopelessness and fear that will appeal to anyone who has ever considered what people might mean by "a fate worse than death." Remender continues this type of storytelling throughout, mixing the unfamiliar with the universal. Marco Esperanza is a great everyman protagonist, a normal (if well-spoken and very educated) man whose reactions to being dropped into a ship of horror easily allow the reader to imagine themselves in his place, heightening the tension and fear when things go awry for him.
When you've got vampires, there is sometimes a tendency to go over-the-top, but for the most part, Remender, Dwyer and Sam maintain a sort of restrained, moody tone instead. There's something undeniably scary about the designs of the pirate crew, but the monstrous truth of their nature is really saved for a big reveal later. There's also a terrific sense of isolation, playing into that universal fear of being alone, as Marco meets up with pirates (and worse) and is forced to play the polite guest, with no other escape routes open to him. The creators really capture a "stranger in a strange land" vibe with this book, and have the same disturbing, what's going to happen next atmosphere of the best kind of horror tales.
While the story of Sea of Red and its characters are quite engaging, however, it was the art that just knocked my socks off. Sam has gone with an unusual coloring style on top of a yellowed paper stock that has the feel of sepia tone coloring, but with a particular emphasis on reds and blacks. It's not quite black and white, not quite colored, it's a very stylized and evocative look that helps to create the foreboding mood as well as really making the art pop off the page. The startling moments, such as the second page splash or the two-page splash of the pirates ransacking a boat, are shocking and gory and lurid, even while the rest of the book has a restrained, moody feel to it. Intensely detailed characters and backdrops give way at key moments to more expressive, violent and shocking storytelling during the fight sequence, and the whole thing has a look and feel that is just beautiful.
Sea of Red is not just a really good pirate comic or a really good vampire comic, or even a really good fusion of two genres. It's just an example of excellent comics storytelling, and as a bonus, it is set in genres that don't get a lot of exposure in the medium. It's got all the mood and restraint of horror stories from the more romantic era, with a sense of style, dialogue and characterization that is very modern. 10/10
