One of those concepts that many fans love but I've never really cared about one way or the other, Killraven was an alternate world continuation of The War of the Worlds where the martians won the war. Davis, a long-time fan of the concept, has been promising this project for a while, and since I'm a fan of Davis's work, I thought I might enjoy what he had to say about this unfamiliar character. As it turns out, I was right, as he turns in the beginning of an interesting post-apocalyptic rebellion story, setting up the world and characters clearly for new readers and remaining very true, at least visually, to the origins of the characters.
Davis puts the reader right into the world of Killraven in the first few pages, exploring what it's like to live in a world where humanity is all but extinct. Through the narration of a young boy who has grown up in the post-war situation and the reactions of his mother, who remembers the pre-war Earth, we see both perspectives and get a sense of the desperation that infects the remainder of humanity. It doesn't hurt that Davis's renditions of the war machines is as terrible as he has the protagonist describe the sounds and feelings of them, making the danger and fear more immediate.
However, while the narrator is a young boy, the main characters are a band of grizzled ex-gladiators who have become rebels against the martian overlords. The group itself is not terribly well-defined as of yet, but each of them gets a few moments of characterization to establish their role, which is plenty for this first issue. Though the character dynamics and the arcs of the characters seem a little obvious (who doesn't see Hawk's betrayal coming somewhere down the road?), Davis does a nice job of setting up protagonist and supporting cast.
In a good post-apocalyptic story, especially one with a large enough cast, the sense that no one is safe should be there, and while I don't think Davis will kill off Killraven, I don't have any such sense about the rest of the characters. It's made clear in a terrific flashback sequence to the war that this is a desperate struggle for survival, and the death of two supporting characters in this first issue show that the fight against the martians won't be bloodless. Whether or not Killraven's crew is safe or not I can't say, but I'm not sure yet, and that uncertainty is welcome.
Of course, it's the artwork that drew my attention in the first place, and Davis and Farmer turn in the great job you'd expect. The costumes and character looks are a bit of a throwback to the 1970s and the origins of these characters, and a bit more of a revamp would have been welcome, but Davis captures the mixture of technology and barbarism that is at the heart of the setting and the characters. And the fight sequences, with the brutality that is more at home in fantasy comics than super-hero comics, are very interesting to read as well.
