That makes twice this week that Brian Augustyn has surprised me. First he delivers a fantastic B.P.R.D. one-shot, and now an intriguing first issue of Hell, the next in the new Rocket Comics line from Dark Horse. Hell has been described as a teenage adventure take on the Island of Dr. Moreau, but while the animal-men on an island are clearly the defining part of the setting, they're not the defining thing about the book. Instead, the defining part of the book is a young protagonist who lost his father to mysterious circumstances and his mother to catatonia derived from his father's loss. The story as it stands is this young boy getting to find out what actually happened to his father, and given what did happen, finding out is sure to involve a fair bit of adventure.
While the impression is that this book is going to take place on a tropical island filled with animal-men, that's really not where the majority of Hell #1 takes place. Instead, Augustyn sets his story in urban Maryland, exploring the life of young Corey Rollins. Corey is a very likable character, a young man who has triumphed over the adversity in his life to become a polite but not geeky kid, respectful of adults and a hard-worker but with a streak of individualism that makes him a good hero. Augustyn has created in Corey a believable character who can sit at the center of the unbelievable circumstances of the book.
This first issue actually focuses less on the science-fiction elements and more on a conspiracy feel. The mysterious stranger who knew Corey's father, the "accidents" that are taking out anyone involved with the project, the FBI agents investigating it... it all has the feel of a good conspiracy story, and if the elements are a little familiar, at least Augustyn goes through the routine in an entertaining manner. Certainly the mysteriously unkillable men in black who face off with the agents and Corey are an interesting twist, and I'm very curious to find out if Corey's dad did somehow survive the attack in the opening pages, and if so what his life has been like.
Which seems as good a time as any to talk about the storytelling abilities of Todd Demong and Tim Kane, the artists on the book. To be honest, Rocket Comics has a "house style" that is derived from creators like Francisco Herrera and Carlos Meglia, and I'm not a fan of either of those artists, so I didn't expect to find any art I liked in Hell. However, while Demong does sometimes tend toward the overly cutesy for my taste, and some of the action sequences get a bit too jumbled (like the one near the end), overall I was pretty pleased with his artwork. Subtle storytelling bits like the name patch on Rollins's jacket tip off the reader to what really happened to Corey's dad, and the overall style, while exaggerated, reminds me as much of Scott Morse as it does Herrera and Meglia. Demong does do the weird "panel within panel" thing that Herrera often does, but it's usually to good effect, tipping off the reader as to where a close-up is coming from, rather than being a weird panel within a panel for no reason.
I get the sense that this first issue of Hell, all urban setting and conspiracy feel, may not be a reflection of what the actual book is going to be like. Indeed, this reads like a lot of setup for the most part. However, if the creators can maintain the active, engaging tone despite the complete change of setting, I think Hell could turn out to be quite the fun adventure book.
