epicmeltdown's Hector Plasm - De Mortuis #1 - De Mortuis review

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    Review: Hector Plasm De Mortuis

    Hector Plasm is a Benandanti. This is the first of many references to real history, ghost stories, and urban legends. In real life the Benandanti were an Italian fertility cult in the 16th century who claimed to fight off harmful witches. In De Mortuis, the Benandanti still exist and they strive to keep good relations between normal folk and the supernatural. Hector has been trained from a very young age to understand the supernatural and the powers that lie within him. But in Hector's world the supernatural are not all bad. The ghosts and creatures encountered are as diverse as the people you meet on the street. In some instances, they are shown as teachers and musicians but in some they are shown as terrifying monsters. The comic is an anthology of several Hector stories both new and old. Where stories have previously seen publication, they have been redrawn, recolored, and/or altogether rewritten. The stories range in tone from hilarious to darkly creepy. Hector is quite flexible.

    Nate Bellegarde (Brit, Hack/Slash) has a rather underrated art style and I would love to see him on more books. One of his strengths is drawing distinct characters. There are too many artists that rely on costumes to differentiate their characters but Nate effortlessly does so with facial features (as should always be the case).

    Benito Cereno (Atom Eve, Tales from the Bully Pulpit) plays with a variety of ghost story and monster conventions and subverts them to give a more realistic characterization to those involved. For example, in one story involving the built-over-an-Indian-burial-ground troupe Hector wisely realizes the situation needn't be resolved by fighting. Benito has study several dead languages and their cultures and this comes through masterfully in his writing.

    My only real complaint with Hector Plasm: De Mortuis is that there aren't more. De Mortuis and Totentanz are currently the only Hector volumes but hopefully we'll see more eventually. The original cover price for this issue was 5.99 but at this point it's pretty easy to find in back issues boxes and online for much cheaper. If you enjoy a good ghost story or just enjoy good comics, I would highly recommend picking up this self contained volume.

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