Night of 1000 Wolves #1
Publisher: IDW
Writer: Bobby Curnow
Artist: Dave Wachter
The current genre of horror comics is absolutely inundated with material, and although some of it is forgettable, this book certainly is not. The story begins with an old man who seems to think that something terrible is on the horizon due to alignments of planets or such. He immediately tries to sacrifice a sheep, but is stopped by his son-in-law (no, not Pauly Shore). An argument breaks out between the two of them, and the younger man’s wife, as well. Before you know it, a ravenous wolf is chowing down on the livestock. It takes everything the young man can muster to kill the beast. It’s at that very moment, that they realize the children are missing. The children are playing out in the woods. The boy and his sister have a squabble, like siblings do, but then the sister runs off deeper into the woods. When the boy goes to find her, he’s shocked to see wolf tracks in the mud. He gets very anxious and runs even faster to find her, but when he finally does, he wishes he hadn’t seen what he did.
All anyone should say about this book is wow! It was a simple, but fantastic story that was easy to follow. There are a couple of loose ends that will surely be addressed in the next issue or two (three issue limited series), but that should be well worth the wait. The writing in this book is excellent for two main reasons. First, and again, the story was easy to follow. Secondly, the old man in the story seems to know what’s going on, but won’t tell after the son-in-law punches him during an argument. This is a great part of the story, because it keeps you on the edge of your seat, knowing that he knows something, but won’t reveal his knowledge.
On the side of artwork for a moment. Things were just as spectacular there as they were with the writing. Such a great combination is rarely found in books these days, as we all know. Typically, when you get a good story, the artwork doesn’t live up to it, or vice versa. Not the case with Dave Wachter’s work in this book. He does a solid job with the setting, the characters, and especially the wolves. They look absolutely savage, and really scary. When they attack the people, the scenes are very realistic. His style reminds me slightly of Norman Rockwell. I know that doesn’t sound very imposing, but trust me, it works. The last page was just awesome, and leaves me to wonder how they’ll escape their situation, or if they even will. Rating 4.5/5
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
