The Hunt #1 Review

This week ushers in the premiere of The Hunt from Image Comics, a supernatural horror series written and drawn by Colin Lorimer with colors by Joana Lafuente.

Is it good?

The Hunt #1 (Image Comics)

Observations

• In horror stories, kids going to bed will inevitably lead to something really bad occurring.

• Yep.
• I already felt sorry for the main character (Orla) due to what she saw in the flashback, but her present day teacher is a real dick.
• And so are her classmates. Geez.
• Her family still seems to be doing okay all things considered.
• Not sure who this guy hitting on Orla is, but he’s already getting on my nerves.
• Social media + Time on the toilet = Rabbit hole of paranoia.
• This creepy demon stalker makes Orla’s suitor not seem so bad anymore.
• Uh…what?

Is It Good?

The art in this book is absolutely gorgeous. Lorimer does an exceptional job portraying his characters’ various emotions, especially with regard to Orla’s emotional state as she navigates the horror of high school social norms. He also draws one heck of a good supernatural monster. There’s a two-page spread near the beginning of the issue that made me curse having to read this book digitally.

Lorimer’s beautiful line work is made all the better by Joana Lafuente’s lush coloring. Her palette remains evenly tempered without ever being drab, which leads to some real knock out panels when she opens things up for the monster’s appearances.

The story, on the other hand, is a bit of a mess. There’s definitely an intriguing premise here, but the narrative throws tiny chunks of information at the reader without any context or meaningful connections. This might have worked if the book went on for another ten pages (or when it’s collected in a trade), but as a single issue, it feels hollow and disjointed.

I also found the transcribed regional dialects to be more distracting than anything else. I love a good Irish accent, but these folks make Banshee from the X-Men sound/read like a Yankee.

All that being said, I definitely feel like there’s enough here to continue reading the series. The gorgeous artwork definitely carries the weight of the book, but Lorimer’s strong dialogue proves and narrative framework also point to a series that might just need a little time to find its footing. I’ll definitely be giving the next issue a shot—maybe with a physical copy instead so I can fully appreciate any two-page spreads we might see.