Comics aren’t all just spandex, unbridled masculinity and the inherent, insidious problems that plague any industry where the only way to make money is by watching beefy white dudes beat each other up. See also: professional wrestling. No, comics have continually branched out from their roots in superhero lore to tackle much more engaging and relevant topics through the subsections of creator owned work. Enter “Burning Fields”, a new eight issue limited series from the BOOM! Studios, a creator having a meteoric rise as an outlet for great creator owned work, and written by Michael Moreci and Tim Daniel with art by Colin Lorimer.
Check out our spoiler free review of “Burning Fields” #1 below to find out why this is not a book you should miss out on.
Written by Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Illustrated by Colin Lorimer
WHY WE LOVE IT: After the critical acclaim of Curse, we couldn’t wait to work with Michael Moreci, Tim Daniel, Colin Lorimer, and Riley Rossmo again—and just as they reinvented the werewolf tale, their modern take on military horror got under our skin.WHY YOU’LL LOVE IT: The team that brought you one of the best-reviewed comics of 2014 returns in 2015 to create a new horror tale unlike any other. A geopolitical drama with monster mythos, Burning Fields is a story for both fans of Zero Dark Thirty and The Thing, as the writers of Roche Limit and Enormous explore the evil that lurks when greed drives one to drill too deep into the unknown.
WHAT IT’S ABOUT: Dana Atkinson, a dishonorably discharged army investigator, is pulled back to the Middle East when a group of American oil technicians disappear under bizarre circumstances. With the help of an Iraqi investigator, what Dana discovers is unimaginable: a series of unusual incidents at the drill site lead her and her unlikely ally to discover a mythic evil that has been released, one that threatens both the lives of the entire region and the fragile peace that exists.
If the real world was more like a film, we’d currently be living in the “Everything changed after The Event” portion. The 21st Century, for all it’s strides in technological advancement, has not been a great time for the world. After the September 11th attacks, the subsequent “war on terror” and the conflict in the Middle East (which is putting it mildly), we’re still feeling the ripple effects that create a world of tension, suspicion and hatred. With shows like Homeland and films like American Sniper, it’s clear that we’re still in the heart of a global conflict that, while there are no clear cut good and bad guys, still often casts white Americans as the heroes while othering and isolating Muslims around the world. “Burning Fields” is an interesting take on a story set in the heart of that conflict, Iraq, which tries to explore that level of suspicion and tension framed by a story of the investigation into a serial killer hunting in an oil field.
“Burning Fields” is the kind of comic to wear its influences on it’s sleeve. Moreci and Daniel have a character name drop Se7en and for a very good reason: this comic is the closest I’ve seen anyone replicate the feeling of inherent dread created by that film. In just the first few pages, we’re treated to a raw and bloody killing that shows that this comic is not one to mess around. The opening also clearly showcases artist Colin Lorimer and colourist Joana Lafuente as a team that can infuse a comic with a feeling of horror, dread and outright repulsion right from the off. Lorimer carefully frames each panel in close up of the torture of a man, never quite showing the killer and rightfully so, that emphasises the brutality of the act. Add to the the deep, harsh shadows that silhouette the characters against Lafuente’s sickly green lighting of the scene and the highlighted red of the blood that stands out against that green and you have a comic that just churns your stomach before even introducing its main character. It instantly set off the impression that this team knows exactly what they’re doing and exactly what effect they want in the reader. All that was left was for them to stick the landing.
Continued belowAnd, boy, did they stick that landing. Moreci and Daniel prove to be a writing team that can handle interesting and deep characters, writing them with such deftness that even in only one issue they feel as rich and deep as if you’d read them for a hundred issues. The core of these characters is Dana Atkinson, a shell of a woman with a myriad of problems that already stands out as one of the more interesting female characters. I mean this as a compliment when I say that she feels like a character out of something Greg Rucka wrote.
However, Moreci and Daniel play an interesting angle with Atkinson where they avoid playing her in a white savior role where she shows up in Iraq looking to fix all of their problems. Instead, she feels roped into a situation she’d rather have nothing to do with and her previous, ambiguously unpleasant experience with the oilfield setting leaves her feeling isolated while Moreci and Daniel introduce Aban Fasad, an Iraqi detective with a much more personal stake in finding the killer. Introducing Fasad as character as centrally important to the story as Atkinson allows Moreci and Daniel to explore the lingering problems in Iraq and the American military presence there from a very interesting standpoint and one that is not often seen. Even in just one issue, the two are proving that this is not an exploitative, pro-America story, but one that explores a lot of different sides to a conflict framed by a series of brutal killings.
This is all brought together by, as I mentioned, the excellent art team of Colin Lorimer and Joana Lafuente. The two create a very grounded, very realistic sense of style that emphasises the tension in the script through carefully positioned close-ups that are in fact rather Fincher-esque in style. It’s very easy for a story like this to coast by on the dialogue and the script while the artist is stuck drawing interchanging close-ups between characters, but the script uses that sense of tension to allow it bubble over to almost action scenes a number of times throughout the issue that Lorimer runs away with, creating exhilarating moments from them. This is all topped off by a last page that pushes the brutality of the opening pages out of the way and loudly proclaims “You haven’t seen anything yet.” It’s not a page for the faint of heart and an excellent closer on an issue that is intriguing, exciting and very, very interesting.
“Burning Fields” #1 is a comic that I am very surprised is actually a comic. It’s the kind of story I’d have thought would become a screenplay for film or TV, but with the talent on display here, I am equally glad it did become a comic. Michael Moerci and Tim Daniel make an excellent writing pair and are very conscious in their writing of not only the story they are telling, but also the real world context that informs that story. What could have potentially hit insensitive pitfalls instead soars because of a tightly written script and deftly written characters from writers that are socially conscious and aware of what they are saying. Backing them up is an art team that makes creating tension in a comic look easy. Lorimer’s artwork is no frills, equally brutal and simple when it needs to be and coloured hauntingly by Joana Lafuente. “Burning Fields” #1 is for anyone wanting a no holds barred examination of a complex real world situation, proving that comics really aren’t just kids’ stuff.
Final Verdict: 8.8 – It may be too brutal for some and anyone looking for something lighthearted and fun aren’t going to find that here, but if you want something complex, dark and intriguing then this should not be missed.
