Revival #1 Review - Mobile Edition

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Revival #1 Review
By Andy Frisk
August 16, 2012 - 23:37

Image Comics
Writer(s): Tim Seeley
Penciller(s): Mike Norton
Inker(s): Mike Norton
Colourist(s): Mark Englert
Letterer(s): CRANK!
$2.99 US

In Wausau, Wisconsin strange things are happening. The dead are rising. They are not coming back as the typical flesh-hungry zombies though. They are simply coming back to life and picking up where they left off like nothing happened. Fully animated, with somewhat glorified bodies, the "Revivers," as they are referred to, are seen by some as the first sign that The Rapture is about to happen or already has. Others see them as an incredible leap in human biology that has to be studied, as the Revivers might hold the key to the end of human biological suffering. For Officer Dana Cypress, and her somewhat estranged father, it's just another opportunity for them to do their jobs enforcing the law and carrying out their duties. Not all of the Revivers are in their right minds though...and the Reviver incident just might hit closer to home for the both of them than they could have ever imagined.

Tim Seeley puts a new spin on the whole zombie craze by jettisoning the whole shambling (or running) and flesh eating schtick and crafting a "rural noir" (as he calls it) involving the reanimation of the dead that is both unsettling and gripping at once. Mixing religious fervor, disturbing goings on, and old fashion detective noir, Seeley creates more than just a simple rural noir. He creates yet another brilliant and unique series for Image Comics.

Artist Mike Norton (It Girl and The Atomics) serves up some truly creepy imagery, some beautiful Wisconsin winter scenery, and some graphically sublime violence and strangeness as only he can. Switching gears from his recent work on It Girl and The Atomics, Norton brings full on realism and gore to his art in Revival. His panel flow, body language, and choreography are top notch. I can't wait to see the heights he takes Seeley's story to in the next few issues.

Image Comics just keeps delivering hit after hit, and Revival is just another in a long line of titles that are must reads. Soaring to heights of smart and compelling storytelling that we used to only see from DC Comics' Vertigo line, Image Comics is an unquestioned premier publisher of artistically solid sequential art stories.

Rating: 10/10