Sons of the Devil #1
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Story: Brian Buccellato
Art: Toni Infante
Take the horror, thriller and mystery genres with little dash of cult worship, mash them together and the result is a familiar trope. In Sons of the Devil #1 from writer Brian Buccellato takes this trope, borrows an existing idea and gives his own spin on it.
The main character of “Sons of the Devil,” a Kickstarter comic, is Travis Crowe. At first, as the reader it’s assumed that he’s the son of the devil based on the title and how his eye color is red and blue. As the story continues on, we find out there are others just like Crowe. Now, it can’t be helped but to wonder…is he related to these “others” (they are not named so making one up)? If so, how? Without spoiling the issue, his origin is messy which confuses the present day story-line. It’s hard to care for character who has such a not so relate-able start.
Once the cliffhanger comes around it feels abrupt and coincidental. Almost as if it were screaming out loud, “Oy, if you couldn’t figure we’re a cult already look at what I did! He-he!”
As for the artwork, it’s good to look at. Toni Infante is Sean-Murphy-esque. This is high-praise because Murphy’s work is outstanding. Nowhere near that standard but close enough to warrant a comparison. Although the lone gripe with the visuals is the lettering. At points while reading it’s illegible, which distracts from doing what Buccellato and Infante story and makes the tale hard to read. Not good. “Sons of the Devils” needs a pick-me-up in issue two or its in danger of being lost among the crowd.
For more on “Sons of the Devil,” watch the short film written and directed by Buccellato himself based on his comic below. He suggests to read the issue first then watch the short to avoid spoilers.
[vimeo 116192439 w=500 h=281]