By Hervé St.Louis
June 8, 2004 - 14:42
Blood of Saints starts a few months after the first Dead@17 mini-series ended. Howard develops several elements rushed in the last two pages of the first mini-series at length in this first issue. Fortunately, Howard does more than clean up this new universe he created. He adds the next threat Nara's world. As prophesied in the original series, more reborn folks arrive.
Howard is a writer that works well with clear structure. His plots introduce new supporting characters with just enough mystery to make us return next issue. Meanwhile, older characters get their dues and story elements hinted in the previous series are developed fully here. For example the rapprochement of Hazy, Nara's best friend and former boyfriend Elijah makes sense.
Howard's style is evolving and it's quite easy to notice. Whereas all the characters in the first series borrowed the same face, according to their gender and age, in Blood of Saints, Hazy and Nara are becoming more than one standard character with a different wig. Howard's excellent storytelling skills are still present although too many captions are covering the artwork.