Written by Jeramie Worley, Chris Stanley, & Brian O’Neill
Pencils & Inks by Pankaj Tulaskar
Colors by Tina Ghadge
Published by Ark Vindicta Development LLC
In many of our favorite comic book stories the places, people, and events are totally fictional. Jeramie Worley and his team approached Devil’s Pool with a slightly different idea: what if they based a fictional story on a real place? That’s what we’re seeing in the first issue of this new horror series from Ark Vindicta. Benton Carver is an EMT in his home town and leads a pretty normal life until his sister is tragically murdered. He suspects more is afoot than your average robbery though and takes it upon himself to investigate the details. What he digs up is a line of corruption that runs deeper than he ever suspected and ends up thrown into the Devil’s Pool wounded and missing an eye. What happens next is more than he ever bargained for…
I met Jeramie Worley at Wizard World St. Louis and after talking to him for a few minutes he told me about his idea for Devil’s Pool. (Apparently it’s a local landmark!) After he explained that it was going to be a horror story grounded in a real place I was sold. While I don’t find it scary (it takes a lot to rattle me with horror stories) it is an extremely intriguing tale of corruption, redemption, and even the supernatural. Ben is an extremely relatable character and I really dig that about him. Before his sister is murdered he lived a life many of us are akin to. He’s always busy with work and has trouble finding time for the people he cares about or even for himself. It’s that kind of connection that will keep people coming back to this story.
The art in this book is pretty solid. Apparently they used all live actors to pose for the panels in this book and it shows. A lot of the character models are extremely detailed but it’s the really grotesque and supernatural events that really shine in the first issue of this book. The colors are absolutely beautiful, but I find that there are a few panels that the faces on the characters don’t quite match the tone of what’s happening in the story. One time in particular one of the characters looked a bit like a fish out of water, but for the most part the art is really solid.
Anyone that’s a fan of the horror/supernatural genre should give it a look. While it’s not perfect it’s definitely an interesting story with solid art to back it up. Ark Vindicta has a website at www.arkvin.com. Go check them out and give Devil’s Pool a look!
3.5 out of 5 nerds
Irwin Fletcher
I'm an LA journalist who really lives for his profession. I have also published work as Jane Doe in various mags and newspapers across the globe. I normally write articles that can cause trouble but now I write for FTN because Nerds are never angry, so I feel safe.
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