Shaman Kane
Issue 1
32 Pages
Mix Colour and Black & White
Available from Comicsy £3.50
Written, Drawn and lettered by
David Broughton
This is SciFi Horror, Comicsy recommend this for ‘mature’ readers, I’d say 12 and up.
I’ve reviewed a few anthologies that have featured work by David, including Zarjaz, Dogbreath and The Psychedelic Journal of Time Travel. In all cases it has been his artwork and I think in the Journal of Time Travel it has also been his lettering.
This book has three stories and a couple of pages of character and gear designs at the back.
So first thing first – I knew the art would be good. You can see the first page of the book, unlettered, to the right. David is always consistent with the form of his characters. Differentiating who is who and what they are doing isn’t ever a problem.
You may notice if you look at the page to the right (right click the image to open it in another tab) that the borders of the frames are black and some frames break those borders. Breaking borders and borders blending in with the panels can make reading a comic a little awkward sometimes. Not a problem here as David’s storytelling and lettering guides you along.
Well the writing didn’t disappoint either, the stories are not over complex but they are entertaining.
Lettered up that first page starts with introducing us to the lead character. This story lets us know who he is and what he does. It also introduces us to his companion and some of his equipment.
The second story gives an origin for Kane’s companion, Sable. That story is coloured in a really interesting way. David uses a well known technique of using colour to show the difference between the current time and flash backs. I think you’ll find the way he colours the present very interesting and I’ll leave describing that as it’d spoil the fun.
The third story returns to black and white and deals with a Zombie outbreak on a spaceship. Just look at how Kane deals with zombies in the panel below.
This tale helps us see that Sable has his drawbacks. We also see more of Kane’s gear and a further glimpse in to his personality.
Snappy storytelling which shows David’s history with anthologies plus strong consistent artwork. A very interesting first issue. Well worth a read.
Judge-Tutor Semple 