Berserkers - Solo Island, First Issue
by Bill Hawk and Daniel Sguiglia
This is yet ANOTHER new release from Darkside Media, a company which I had the pleasure of putting on my radar thanks to the Rhode Island ComicCon last weekend. Read more about them on their website:
The creators of this comic also have a kickstarter campaign going for their other title, Lovecraft P.I. (read my review of this title in a previous post) If you’re a supporter of comic books, and newcomers to the market, I can’t think of a better cause:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/darksidefilms/lovecraft-pi-a-three-issue-limited-comic-series
Author’s Dislcaimer: I am in no way affiliated with this comic, or in cahoots with anyone affiliated with this comic, and receive no remuneration for this article. My only request is if you do meet up with anyone from there, tell them The Comic Whisperer sent you. It won’t get you anything special, but it will sure make me feel good.
Berserkers - Solo Island is set in the 1950s. To say this was a decade to remember would be selling it short; the world was still recovering from WWII (which went from 1939 to 1945), the cold war (which went from 1947 to 1991) was just hitting its stride, Texas Instruments developed the first transistor radio (in 1954), and gas was 18 cents a gallon.
The focal point is Navy Ensign Alex Sands and his assignment; travel to Solo Island, (population 2,401) go to a decommissioned weather station, and “keep an eye on things.” Certainly sounds innocent enough, right? As it turns out there is a little more to it.
According to Sands’ C.O. ("Commanding Officer” for those of you not fluent in military acronyms) the island used to have a decent fishing and canning business that went belly-up. Apparently, it also had an indian tribe that ran bootleg hooch operations there during prohibition (which went from 1919 - 1933 in the U.S.). That went belly-up as well when the Treasury Dept. found out about it in 1931.
As I don’t want to spoil the book for you, however, let’s just say that...well...people died. Lots of ‘em. We’re talking mass grave numbers.
Concurrent to the rollout of the plot the cast of characters are introduced:
Ada Tremayne, Bookkeeper and Town Historian
Mayor Stansfield, he’s...um...the Mayor
Doctor Parke, from Woodham University
and
Jacques Ravel, who works with Doctor Parke
All of whom you can almost picture as characters in the game of ‘Clue’. You know, Colonel Mustard? Professor Plumb? Never mind...
There are several things that make Berserkers - Solo Island a great read.
First, it has the look and feel of the times. For instance, there is a sign in a military office that reads, “If you wouldn’t tell Stalin, don’t tell anyone.” which brings to mind the old “Loose Lips Sink Ships” mantra. The lack of technology sticks out like a sore thumb with the use of whiteboards and phones with cords. There is also the dramatic difference in what things cost back then. When Ensign Sands needs to take a cab ride he is charged $1 and complains that it “seems a little steep”. Last, the hairstyles and clothing are perfect for the era.
The second thing is the illustrations and the colors used throughout. It is a very simple illustrative style that reminds one of the artwork found in the Hellboy/Abe Sapien series. Very few lines with very big effects. There is also a very limited color palette. It’s almost exclusively earth tones giving the story an older look and feel. So, either the colors were VERY well thought out or...I can’t think of a funny alternative, so let’s stick with the “very well thought out” theory.
The last thing that struck me was how very well planned out the island was in preparation for the story. There is conceptual art by Bill Hawk in the back of the comic that shows a map of the entire island and where everything is. The only drawback is that without the lens used in the Hubble Telescope it’s impossible to read the microscopic Key to see what everything is. Fortunately, Amazon had such a lens on sale, so I bought it.
Berserkers - Solo Island is a suspenseful, extremely well drawn, and thoroughly thought out read. You’ll find that, although not enough is revealed about any character for you to bond with them yet, there is enough of a taste that you want to learn more. It’s clear that this isn’t just a story to those at Darkside Media, this is comic book engineering with painstaking detail...not unlike their other title, Lovecraft P.I.
My recommendation? Buy it, Read it, Bag and Board it. It has all the qualities of the TV show that everyone wants to see as it airs because everyone will be talking about it the next day. If it’s not the type of series that pulls out all the stops for the preview, then let’s things slip as time passes, we’re all in for a big treat!
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