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‘Basilisk #1:’ Advance Comic Book Review

Basilisk #1 is the foundation for a new story, new characters, and a new world from the mind of Cullen Bunn (one of the best horror comic book writers currently writing in the genre) and artist Jonas Scharf (whom I’ll speak more of shortly). Bunn’s Harrow County absolutely blew me away with its scope and character-focused story lines. That started small, focusing on a single character getting swept up into something beyond their control and built outward. Basilisk gives us a few things: an initial event that occurred some time in the past, two characters coming to a head, and a villainous family. Even beyond that, there are plenty of elements introduced. This is giving us hints of who the multiple characters are, and instead it’s giving a wider vision of this world and all the things our two female protagonists might run into along the way. And because it’s probably a five to six-issue story arc, as many BOOM! titles are, there’s a need to get to it!

For those who don’t know, a basilisk is a lizard-like creature that can turn you into stone simply by looking at you. One of the female protagonists in this story has a similar power. In fact, many of the characters do. The other female protagonist does not, but she has a major, well-earned chip on her shoulder. We’ll see how these two leads do together going forward.

The tone of the dialogue has a great hard-boiled edge to it. We start in a flashback, setting up the mystery, and go directly to a roadside diner.

Jonas Scharf is a really impressive artist. The first few pages are visually arresting, and the rest of the book is cinematically appealing. The colors, as with most BOOM! books, are gorgeous, and Alex Guimarães’ choices are elegant. The way a street light glows in the dark is simply stunning. Details like that really bring this world to life in some cool ways.

This is just some flavor to start, a little spice to peak the taste buds, but I’m here for it.

Creative Team: Cullen Bunn (writer), Jonas Scharf (illustrator), Alex Guimarães (colors), Ed Dukeshire (letters), Grace Park (designer), Eric Harburn (editor), Ramiro Portnoy (assistant editor), Jonathan Manning (associate editor)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Click here to purchase.

Phillip Kelly, Fanbase Press Contributor

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