The Strain: Mister Quinlan – Vampire Hunter #1
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writer: David Lapham
Artist: Edgar Salazar
Colorist: Dan Jackson
Cover: Juan Ferrerya
The Strain has reurned to television so what better time to introduce fans to one of it’s most enigmatic and badass characters, Mister Quinlan. A being that walks in both worlds and hunts the monster that created him, The Master himself.
Lapham takes us back a few thousand years to the reign of Caligula and how fitting that a creature that will become The Master would flourish during his time. And though it’s a story that has several familiar elements as another vampire hunter, Lapham gives it enough of a twist to make this story stand on its own. Told from Quinlan’s perspective we get a look at his violent beginnings and see how his hunt for The Master begins. Lapham has also given him a deeper motivation for this mission and we see how Quinlan had to adapt to the world of men while also being part vampire. A task that isn’t easy when you carry the visible physical attributes of the creatures that inhabit the world of The Strain.
To help move things along is the artwork from Edgar Salazar and Dan Jackson’s colors that provide some strong visual storytelling here. The amount of detail helps to put over the horror elements and action scenes. Salazar also continuously makes the smaller moments look just as good as the faster paced action sequences that take place. Especially that one slim panel where we get a close up of the parasitic worm in the eye of Quinlin’s mother. The character designs are just as good and by the time you reach the end of the issue things just get wild!
The creative team does Quinlan’s origin story justice from the narrative to its bloody visuals! Even if you’ve never read The Strain comics this would be a good jumping on point. So it’s worth a shot if you’re a fan of the series or just wanting to see a twist in the vampire mythos.
Infinite Speech
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