Just when it looked like Image Comics’ “Revival” had a chokehold on the rural horror genre, along comes “Curse” looking good enough to stand right alongside it.
Written by Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Illustrated by Colin Lorimer & Riley RossmoLaney Griffith is a man who will do anything to save his son from leukemia, but the cost of treatment has broken him financially. When he pursues an elusive murderer in the wilderness of his small, rural community, in the hopes of securing a substantial bounty, Laney is confronted with something he never could have expected: a werewolf. The captive lycan, in human form, turns Laney’s life upside-down, forcing him to confront his haunted past and race against the clock—because the wolf will return, and Laney’s son’s condition continues to worsen. CURSE is a story of a family’s survival at all costs.
Sometimes comics take a while to find their footing, taking time to establish themselves or slow burn their way to what hopefully resembles some sort of payoff. With “Curse” #1, Michael Moreci and Tim Daniel waste no time in completely hooking you in. The opening sequence of a story that is ostensibly about a man vs. werewolf is such a gripping and tension-filled standoff that ideas about where it could possibly go from there will linger in your mind even after the story pulls away and slows down for a while. The writers quickly establish a comic that is clearly going to expand on its monster movie core to contain plenty of clashes of personality, gruesome violence, and taut suspense. As the characters poke at one another, we see what makes them tick. That’s the game with “Curse” – we’re getting inside these characters’ heads. Their predicaments. Their motives.
Maybe I’m just a sucker for books with numerous references to Wisconsin sports teams, but The Badger State is becoming quite the fertile stomping ground for creepy and murderous horrors. “Curse” goes further in proving what we’ve already started to learn about gruesome horror comics thanks to Tim Seeley and Mike Norton’s “Revival” – they work beautifully in snowy, woodsy landscapes.
It’s a seemingly ordinary setting filled with seemingly ordinary people – most notably our main character. Through its small town everyman main character, “Curse” starts to get pretty close to stringing together a few cliches in order to make a tragic backstory. “The football star that never made the big time, down on his luck, etc. When it all shakes out, it’s a pleasant surprise how honest and earned that backstory ends up feeling when applied to the story as it is in the present. Moreci and Daniel navigate this character quite nicely, and definitely turn him into someone to root for when the proverbial shit hits the fan.
Colin Lorimer and a brief set of interludes from Riley Rossmo go even further toward establishing the midwest as a really creepy place to set a horror comic. Applying Rossmo’s chaotic, bold lines of black and blood red over the clean white snow is a striking effect that never loses its impact. Rossmo’s approach is as reliable and suitably manic as ever, but since Lorimer is the breakout artist here, let’s talk a little more about that.
Lorimer compares favorably to the noir artists in comics, reminding one of Sean Phillips, but applied to a comic that is more horror-focused than anything else. What this amounts to is heavy shadowing that creates terrific atmosphere and the tension that comes with being in the same dark, dank room with an incredibly dangerous monster. Lorimer makes an impression with assured character work and the ability to blend characters and settings into one another in a very naturalistic way, but his best skill is clearly in his approach to the violence and quiet creep factor. The violent parts are visceral and the low key parts in between feel like they’re just about to get visceral. That’s the mark of a solid horror comic – “Curse” keeps you on edge the whole way through.
“Curse” is good enough to evade my endless comparisons to “Revival”, but I feel like that’s the best way to get across the fact that if you like that, there’s a darn good chance you’ll like this. Moreci and Daniel have been establishing themselves as creators to look out for for a couple years now, Rossmo is a certifiable star artist at this point, and if “Curse” #1 is any indication, Lorimer is coming right around the bend for a breakout. Added all together, that’s a lot of talent stacked up for a great first issue that demands your attention.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
