Creative Team – Ernie Carothers, Quinn McGowan, Jason Levine
Check out Hart of the Darkness #1 here!
The Story
When you start reading Hart of the Darkness #1, you’ll notice one thing right away; this isn’t like other comic books. The story, the characters, the art, all completely new like a fresh breath of air. Let’s start with the story. Introducing our main character, Kellan Hart from Memphis, Tennessee. Kellan can be described as a lot of things like motivated, a force to be reckoned with, but in this story, his main label is the one monsters fear. Having werewolves, vampires, demons, and whatever other monsters cross his path fear him is no easy feat, but the story of comic perfectly puts validity in their fear.
The business of monsters is actually the family business left to Kellan by his father, who unfortunately passed on. Kellan never wanted this life, and even tried to get out of it, but once his father passed away, the family business was his. He and his ghostly assistant, Kayla, keeps the peace between the monsters and ensures that they abide by the laws.
On this fateful night, there was nothing out of the ordinary besides drama between the werewolves and vampires. Until there was a call from the Red Court demanding Kellan check in. The Red Court is made up of the top of the vampire hierarchy who handles issues or the paranormal. Once Kellan arrives, he finds out from the monstrous leaders that kids have been kidnapped, and it was by a vampire.
Kellan knows the laws and he knows they specifically state to leave kids alone. According to the Red Court, this will result in a final death. Now, Kellan, having no background information, no intel, no inner knowledge of the vampiric kidnapper, has to find the vampire responsible and stop him.
The Writing
Ernie Carothers, the writer of Hart of the Darkness #1, sets the tone immediately with a stirring standoff between werewolves and vampires, interrupted by the main character’s entrance which only adds to the energy. The tone stays high throughout most of the comic, broken up by chances for the reader to get to know Kellan Hart as a character, or learn about this new world. Each character comes with their own story that pulls you in, instantly wanting to know more and more about them. However, the story keeps moving at an excellent flow, so your attention is immediately changed to the next exciting page.
There’s a lot of heart in the comic, clearly written from a place of passion, that you can see very clearly throughout the comic and in the main character himself. Kellan, being the only human of the story, stands out against the story and characters in more ways than one. This was expertly handled making him the focal point being the only human in a world full of monsters and chaos, but somehow he’s the scariest thing there.
The Art
The artist of Hart of the Darkness #1, Quinn McGowan, brought the thrilling storyline to life in the most stunning ways. With the abstract details combined with the gorgeous and pristine details, each page ends up looking better than the last. Along with the superb drawings, the coloring is simply inspired. With majority of the comic covered is layers of reds, blacks, and whites, the coloring of the comic really hammers in the horror energy of the story itself.
Alongside the incredible artwork is the lettering, the sets the tone for the dialogue of the story. Jason Levine perfectly construed the tone of the situations or the characters themselves. With Levine’s lettering, you were able to easily understand the emotions of Kellan throughout the comic, which varied between calm and exasperated. Creating a perfect flow of dialogue in the comic, Levine was clearly filing on all cylinders.
Final Thoughts
Hart of the Darkness #1 is full of action, incredible depths, and characters that keep you wanting more by the end of the comic. The story is all gas and no breaks. I’ll be very anxiously waiting for the next issue to drop!
Overall Grade – 9.3/10
You can find Ernie Carothers here!
This review was written by Megan from the Vigilante Vibes Podcast! If you liked my review, be sure to check out my other reviews! Let me know what you think of Hart of the Darkness #1, or tell me what comics you’d recommend me trying out! Find me on my socials, and check out my Marvel podcast, Vigilante Vibes, by clicking here!
