Wakefield and Hollander, two paranormal occult investigators living and adventuring in the 19th Century, battle the Langavat Clan werewolves on the Island of Bengecula, Outer Hebrides, Scotland. Residents of the local village of Dubhtilloch have had some of their children abducted by what were described as “wolves walking like men.” The Langavat Clan, being killed and cursed by a powerful Druid “long ago” because of their clan leader’s attempt to take the Druid’s bride, have risen as werewolves, and plan to steal the children’s innocence in order to free themselves from the curse. Chillingly, how they plan to steal their “innocence” isn’t made clear…

Immediately, Ex Occultus: Badge of Langavat distinguishes itself from the seemingly overwhelming paranormal/werewolf/vampire pop fiction that is all the rage nowadays. It distinguishes itself through its intelligent reworking of a real life myth tied to a real life location. It doesn’t change the setting and location to a more generic or recognizable one such as London or Edinburgh, for example. This integrity of local really adds to the integrity of the story and the myths. Also the Langavat Clan werewolf myth, while not a typical or well known paranormal myth, is a real myth nonetheless, and it’s unique enough to stand apart from other horror/romance fiction. The myth puts enough of a spin on the whole tired werewolf plot to be enjoyable and interesting.

Occult adventurers Wakefield and Hollander, while portrayed as extremely knowledgeable and competent at their jobs, aren’t very well developed. This isn’t necessarily a fault of the writing team of Russell and Young, but more likely a choice they made purposefully and artistically. The characters are shown in action after basically coming out of nowhere and returning to nowhere. As readers we want to know more about them including their history and just as importantly, their other adventures. Publisher Saint James and creator Russell, along with writer Young, publish the weekly web comic Ex Occultus: Wakefield’s Journal, which is pretty good (mostly because of the intelligent use in the tales of other little known but real paranormal myths as fodder for their adventures), but this series looks to be potentially too good to be regulated to a web comic only (personally, I’m not a fan of web comics. I want them in my hands).

Sandra Lanz’s art is pretty good, and she does a solid job of capturing the proper gothic atmosphere the story requires. Her art is pretty minimalist though. The fairies that the two adventurers capture and use to seek out the hidden magical entrance to the Langavat castle are portrayed as little more than stick figures with wings. Again though, this is most likely an artistic choice, but underwhelming nonetheless. Lanz does create some great renderings of the Scottish Highlands, lochs, and crumbling medieval castles and buildings. Colorist McDonley makes great use of shading. This can often hurt or detract from the sharpness of black and white sequential art, but in Ex Occultus, his shading does a great deal to create the aforementioned gothic atmosphere necessary to emphasize the tale’s overall theme.

Ex Occultus, with its unique approach to a tired subject matter is just the type of premise more mature and intelligent readers are looking for in order to reclaim the genre from the kids and slasher movie fans. These characters and their occult adventures need a regular series in which to grow, develop, reach their potential, and most of all, battle more unique real life myths. Let’s see some more.

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