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Creative Team: James Robinson (Writer) Scott Kolins (Artist) Jim Campbell (Letterer)
Published by Dark Horse Comics
Writing:
Patra’s story follows the lone survivor of a gruesome multiple murder case set in the peaceful small town of Billford Minnesota. We are immediately thrust into following the town’s policemen into the crime scene, shattering the notions of Billford ever having been peaceful. The story takes place over two main scenes, which we jump back and forth between.
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One occurs at the town’s police headquarters, and the other scene follows Patra as she attempts to remember what has happened to her, all while strange things continue happening.
The dialogue, pacing, and revealing of details which build the story are very cleverly executed. I almost understand how our main protagonist grew up into the crazy person he is depicted as.
Art:
I really enjoy this art style on display from Scott Kolins. It is both a reminder of some old children’s books I owned, and also a very detailed approach that I really enjoyed. The heavy blacks and the large swaths of red are the backbone for this first issue’s dark subject matter.
I also am a big nerd of the craft, and I love the black with red lines that make up the gutter space around each panel. It just adds a nice extra touch that shows there is something dark and not right with this world. The colors also slightly shift as we learn about our protagonist and the tale continues getting darker. These elements are really cool subtleties that I highly enjoy.
Final Thoughts:
As a huge fan of horror movies and comics, this book hits all the right notes for me. It has done an excellent job as the first issue, of what will be a 4 issue story, setting up our characters and also leaving plenty of things to be explored.
I am also not fully convinced we have been given the correct answers just yet. Something wild is happening with Patra and I cannot wait to find out what it is!
Final Grade: I give this 9 bloody corpses out of 10.
Hey, I’m Chris, the Long Box Punk. Along with being a reviewer for Nerd Initiative, I’m a huge fan of horror, both comics and movies alike. Let me know your thoughts on Patra Issue #1 or any other horror comics you think I should check out!
