Alabaster Wolves #1 of 5

Alabaster Wolves #1 of 5
Dark Horse Comics
Written by Caitlín R. Kiernan
Art by Steve Lieber

Have you ever gone to a place, town or whatever where you felt that it was a bad place, evil or something just wasn’t right? This is what’s happening with Dancy Flammarion. She’s a sixteen-year-old who has been chosen and sent to different places by an angel to kill evi ldoers and demons alike. In this opener, she’s in some town in South Carolina. While waiting for a bus she meets a girl, or something that looks like a girl. And that’s where the fun begins. All they needed to do was add “Dueling Banjos” to give it more of an uneasy feeling that comes off the page.

Let’s start with the writing, the characters come off the page and each has their own accent and personality. I was glad to see someone in the Deep South speaking like they’re from the Deep South. Each frame has a darkness that comes off the page, not just due to lack of light, but the feel that it gives. As for the paneling, basic squares added to this story. They didn’t try to force something in that didn’t fit that might take away from the writing. The only thing negative that I could find is my personal opinion about having the cover art match what you would get in the book. But I could have been given the variant art cover.

When I was reading this, I could say that I’ve been in the same town that she was in. I could relate with Dancy just enough to have a better feel for the story. The story itself did show the classic feel of a first issue, laying the foundation for the books to come but not revealing too much. But this one did it in a way where the story was complete but you still didn’t know the full story; that was well done. At each turn, you had a feeling of what might happen but nothing really prepared you for what comes at the end. In my humble opinion, this is a series to follow. I give it 4.5 caps out of 5.