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COMIC REVIEW: FTN reviews The Occultist #1

October 11th, 2013 by Irwin Fletcher Comments

Created by: Mike Richardson

Script by: Tim Seeley

Art by: Mike Norton

Colors by: Allen Passalaqua

Published by: Dark Horse

The Occultist is a 5 part series by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton. Do those names sound familiar to anyone? If so it could be because they are the same people who work on the mega popular noir comic Revival from Image!

As soon as they announced this project (at the C2E2 convention I attended) I was super excited. Tim Seeley has been a favorite of mine since Hack/Slash; and I named my stuffed rabbit/sidekick from my YouTube show “Norton” after none other than Mike Norton, so I definitely love his work as well. They work really well together and when you see them at conventions it is obvious they have major chemistry.

This new series they have put together follows Rob Bailey aka The Occultist. He is just your average college student, except he has recently been chosen to be a wielder of the Sword. Now to clear up any confusion, the Sword is not of the blade variety; it is actually a book. This book is an ancient artifact that has been around for many, many years. It has spells and powers that help Rob to identify spirits, evil creatures and more.

In this issue he goes around with his partner Detective Anna Melendez, who he has a major crush on, and together they vanish a room of undead babies by giving them the soul of their former “caretaker” from years ago.

Rob also has a mentor named Mr. Charles, a large man who is teaching him how to use the Sword, however Mr. Charles also appears to be hiding things. It seems that, as Rob gets better at controlling the Sword and it’s powers, Mr. Charles (IF that’s even his real name) gets more and more ill. Only time will tell, but I would bet that once Rob gets done with his apprenticeship Mr. Charles will be done for and he knows it. Another one of Mr. Charles secrets is Jacob Elder, a very old man (who sort of resembles Stan Lee) who is kept in a cage in Charles’ bedroom.

This issue has a very strong opening for a #1. There is still some back story that needs to be addressed (why does Mr. Charles have Stan Lee in his bedroom?!) but it doesn’t make anything confusing. All good things come to those who wait and I believe by issue #5 all of my questions will be answered.

Seeley’s writing is spot on with this series. One thing I love about his writing is he always knows how to make characters come to life. I can hear the differences in Rob’s voice when he is practicing his different “Occultist” voice tones (hope he doesn’t pick Christian Bales’ Batman voice!), I can feel Mr. Charles frustration with his deteriorating body and I can easily believe Rob’s neighbor to be annoying and a total bro.

Mike Norton is also on his game. The artwork in this comic could easily be mistaken for stills in an animated series. He never leaves out any details, from the designs on Mr. Charles rugs to the guts of a broken cell phone; it’s all there, and he never misses anything.

I would highly recommend this series to my friends; it has a little something for everyone and can be enjoyed by a wide spectrum of age groups. Dark Horse as another hit on their hands!

4 out of 5 nerds

 

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.