Dead Acre: Black Badge #2 // Review
Crowley is talking to the angel in the mirror. Of course...the angel in the mirror isn’t Crowley. But it’s not Gabriel either. (He’s asking ths angel if it’s name is Gabriel.) He knows its name. The angel in the mirror is named Shar. He knows better than to look it in the eye. Things can happen when you look an angel in the eye. Still...Crowley DOES have a lot to learn from Shar, so he’s going to have to listen to her in Dead Acre: Black Badge #2. Writer Cullen Bunn continues an adaptation of the book series by Rhett C. Bruno and Jaime Castle. The story is adapted to the comics page by artist Riley Brown and colorist Jorge Fares Maese Ramirez.
Evidently the place that The White Throne has directed Crowley to is a place in the presence of a hellmouth. So it’s going to be dangerous...even for a dead guy like Crowley. He’s going to have to investigate one of the more undesirable parts of the small town that he’s been sent to: the church. Crowley is going to have to talk to a priest to get a bit of information if he’s going to understand what’s going on.
Bunn continues to tread lightly in the shadow of Bruno and Castle’s series. An action-based adaptation of the best-selling novel series might seem like a more natural fit for a visually-driven medium. Instead...Bunn focusses quite heavily on the moody drama of a supernatural demon hunter who is on a mission from heaven. The drama fits the page quite well straight through. Each of the thre major conversations in the issue have clear dramatic beats that are competently brought page and panel by Bunn’s script. Crowley’s internal monologue covers a lot of ground in a largely satisfying exploration into cowboy-era darkness.
Brown finds some clever angles with which to move the action and drama across the page. The intital conversation with the angel in the mirror may feel a bit flat on the page, but much f the rest of the issue is brought dynamically to the page with visuals that are given quite a bit of depth and atmosphere by Ramirez’s immersive colors. The overall drama makes it to the page quite vividly thanks to Brown’s largely nuanced work delivering detail and intensity in a series of well-executed scenes.
The whole issue seems to be bathed in the inky blackness of shadow...even when things are particularly bright with the angel in the mirror. This IS horror from antiquity, so it feels pretty stylishly rendered considering the setting. There’s a great deal of potential in the series and the setting, drawn as it is from a novel series that’s already shown a great deal of interest. The challenge in the future of the series is going to lie in continuing to find visually appealing ways to bring the story into the comics medium. It’s been an interesting exercise so far.
