Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: Mr. Wormwood Goes to Washington #1 Review

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I haven’t read any of the previous Wormwood volumes, but I do love me some Ben Templesmith. Combine that with what obviously looks to be a timely political slant, and I’m pretty much guaranteed to like this one…

…right?

First Read Reactions

• Even for corrupt politicians and lobbyists, this crew is still surprisingly evil.
• It may lead to bad things for humanity, but it’s fun watching a two-faced lawmaker get a face full of demon vomit.
• Good lord! This was definitely not the introduction to Wormwood: Gentleman Corpse I was expecting.
• This giant exposition dumps sounds like it would be one heck of a good story.
• Meeting with federal agents is probably tortuous enough without doing it at a sketchy bar.

The Verdict

Well, I definitely still love Templesmith’s art. He’s one of the few artists out there with “loose” pencils who can still pack every panel with tons of detail and exceptional storytelling.

Unfortunately, the actual story of Mr. Wormwood Goes to Washington so far feels kind of…bland. I can’t believe I’m saying that about a transdimensional tale featuring a cast of supernatural characters, but the narrative never goes past anything that’s truly unexpected or interesting.

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We start off with a politician so corrupt he’s beyond cartoonish (and probably still accurate to real life) and show him making a deal with the metaphorical(ish) devil. Then we switch over to a lengthy bit of exposition detailing Wormwood’s love life before ending up with the United States government asking him for help for what I assume is the exact same scenario that just played out in the first act.

This series could still be very good, especially now that we’ve got the catching up and setting up out of the way for the most part. But as far as first chapters and impressions go, Mr. Wormwood has a lot of work to do if he wants to win my vote.

Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: Mr. Wormwood Goes to Washington #1 Review

Is it good?

The art is gorgeous, but Mr. Wormwood has a lot of work ahead of him if he wants to win your vote.

As expected, the art by Templesmith is absolutely gorgeous.

The story has an intriguing (if all too familiar) set up

Much of the issue is spent on Wormwood telling us about his love life while we wait for the obvious narrative beats to happen.

This may be by design, but the characters in the first act are so evil that it's almost cartoonish.

5

Average

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