Packs of the Lowcountry is a 200 page full color hardcover written by former ComicSpectrum reviewer John Dudley with art by Don Cardenas. John bowed out as a reviewer to spend time writing this lengthy tale of monsters, heroes, and survival in a post-invasion world set 16 years after nightmare beasts have invaded the world.
Our hero, Bastion Conroy, lives in a safe city, but he is tapped for a mission to a rumored second city…in the Lowcountry, a large wilderness section of South Carolina. The story combines action, horror, and super-powers as we join a team of would-be saviors on a journey of exploration and discovery.
I’ve read a preliminary version of the book in PDF form; Dudley does a good job on the pacing and dialogue. I particularly enjoyed the typed ‘reports’ from Agent T, who has preceded the team we’re following into the Lowcountry. They provide both insight and flavor to the story happening “in the moment”. The art by Cardenas is clearly the work of a journeyman, but it was nice to see the work evolving over the course of the ~180 story pages, particularly in panel composition. Cardenas needs some more work on faces and hands, but he’ll get there as he produces more pages. His work is similar to early work from several artists I’ve followed over the years who became very solid and popular creators after putting out 1000 or so pages.
If you’re a fan of superpowers combined with monsters and like trying out and supporting work from new creators, give this project a look. The HC is reasonably priced for what they are delivering and looks like it’s going to be a nice package. I’m looking forward to getting mine and having a look at the story again on the printed page… (I’m old school that way, I’ll read PDFs but love the experience of holding a book and reading it on paper!)
Personally Backed & Endorsed by Bob Bretall: bob@comicspectrum.com
http://comicspectrum.com/ – By Fans who Love Comics for Fans who Love Comics