EDITOR's NOTE: Echoes of the Damned #1 will be available in stores on November 26.

This is everything I could have hoped for when I read the synopsis on the Devil’s Due website. This is the story of Dante Cortez, an FBI agent whose past, while present in the story, is still illusive, unclear and haunting. We are privy to the fact that his son has been murdered but not much else. It is set in Los Angeles and the last day before his retirement, Dante is asked to work up what is presumed to be a routine profile. But now that he’s involved, he’s not allowed to escape it all.

This comic commands attention. Our main character provides for your typical drunken, lost, bitter, depressive detective/FBI agent/police officer, whose job has lead to the death of someone he truly loved and cared about. Although this may not seem all that original, it serves as an easy start for a new reader. Sometimes, clichéd characters can help you hook an audience; the trick then is keeping that audience by adding depth to this character in the future. The choice to open this issue with silent panels, then a groan, then silence, and then finally speech sets the mood for the rest of this issue. These silent panels allow the reader to develop their own investment in the moment. It also establishes tension and suspense, the proverbial, pin-dripping silence.

The dialogue that does begin the issue is fast paced and hard hitting, throwing the reader from their familiar discomfort in the silence into a whirlwind of confusion and uneasiness that ultimately leads us to our protagonist. The writing is believable and connected, allowing the reader to understand the situations our characters are in, despite how vague and haunting they may be at this point in the story.

The art team has done an excellent job with this comic. The noir style works perfectly for this genre of book and brings a heightened sense of reality to everything going on in the story. What noir, as a style, allows an art team to do is accentuate the darkness and the grittiness of any given scenario, even the most simple. It makes every situation, no matter how dull seem to have something sinister and uneasy about it. The Frank Miller influences are rampant throughout the issue, especially in large panel designs. What is great is how these panels are used, not as a copy of someone else’s work, but to pay homage to an iconic panel design style.

What’s great about the art is the team’s attention to details. The attention to facial expressions and eyes is wonderful allowing for every emotion to be read on the characters faces. The richness in color at times makes you want to check your hands to make sure there’s nothing on them. The blood on certain pages is so vivid that you want to touch it just to make sure the page itself isn’t bleeding on to you. The design for the last few pages of this issue was well chosen and left this reader wanting more.

All-in-all, this is a really entertaining comic that will leave you wanting more. Pick up a copy next time you’re at your local comic shop. You won’t be disappointed.

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