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Harvest #1 (of 5) Review

By Dan Horn
August 1, 2012 - 15:57

One irritating fact of current promotions in any media is that publishers or studios feel the need to create "high concept" buzz around all of their new properties. Case in point, Harvest was billed as some sort of hybrid between E.R. and some other stuff--maybe Jurassic Park; I don't know. This book really doesn't come across as something swinging for the high concept bleachers though. It's just a crime thriller, pretty plain and simple. It's somewhat original, having a down and out, scumbag surgeon fall in with criminals and a organ harvesting ring, but I wouldn't chalk any of it up to the modish "high concept."

A.J. Lieberman presents a compelling introduction to his characters here, though events seem a bit disjointed by time and their ambiguous relevance to the story. Benjamin Dane is a surgeon who overdoses in the E.R. and his ensuing fall from grace makes him ideal for a black marketeer who happens to need a new surgeon for organ harvesting.

Realism isn't exactly what Lieberman seems to be aiming for here, though some of the imagery is absolutely grisly, but instead Harvest couples the hyperbole and genre-blurring of Japanese melodrama with prime-time television gravitas. It's a little heady, and sometimes that prime-time dialogue is laughable, but it works. Harvest #1 manages to be exciting and intriguing despite its obvious shortcomings.

Colin Lorimer is the star of this comic, however. His art is by turns beautifully detailed and horrifyingly gruesome. He knows how to draw your eye and set a suitably grim tone with his sparse palette. Harvest #1 is truly an artistic tour de force for Lorimer.

Rating: 7.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12