Review: Limbo, Issue #1 (Image Comics)

Written by Young Jeohn

A detective with no past is asked to investigate a frightening event. And she's beautiful, this client - a singer who's in fear of her life because of what she's witnessed. And what she saw isn't anything close to being an earthly event.

His name is Clay (that's what he's called, anyway) and is found by a girl who nurses him back to health. But try as he might, he can't find any clues to his past - that is, until he gets an anomymous call at a bar. But before he has a chance to listen, he's thrown out after getting his ass kicked by rednecks (and he hates rednecks with a passion.)

STORY
The story takes place in a small port town, with a local drug lord as the perceived antagonist who controls everything. But as you read along, you get the feeling that there's a bigger power behind it all with secrets hidden from sight. With voodoo magic and shamanism playing a key role later on, Limbo #1 is an interesting first issue that offers layers of secrets that are waiting to be peeled away.

ARTWORK
The art reminds me of film noire with a very contrasty look, using lots of shadows and blacks to bring about the feeling of suspense and mystery. The character art is simplistic with action scenes having the original tv Batman's "kapow!" outlines (with little or no background pictures.) The artist seems to be doing this on purpose though, because we always know where the characters are. When called for, there are exceptional details drawn for scenes that have special meaning or meant to have an impact. Although I feel the character art is simplistic (sort of like the Walking Dead) compared to the potential depth of the storyline, it overall shows good mastery of light and shadow details, like how light from a tv could make someone in a dark room feel creepy.

CONCLUSION
This comic is for people who are into mystery, action, suspense and has a feel of Louisiana cajun, voodoo magic (and dare I say, a hint of zombies?) It's an interesting first issue that had me asking enough questions to hold my attention - look forward to peeling back the mystery behind the mystery in future issues.

FINAL SCORE
7/10