From the crew of Saint James Comics comes the second installment in their Ex Occultus series: the Seal of Solomon.
In this issue, we find our heroes Wakefield and Hollander charged with the quest of tracking down an ancient ring that used to belong to King Solomon. Supposedly containing the power to control demons, the ring currently resides in the collection of one Mr. Zhelov, a collector of oddities. Unfortunately for Wakefield and Hollander, though, Zhelov is not as clueless to the ring’s power as they had been led to assume, and what was to be a simple snatch and grab turns into a rather complicated adventure.
Click behind the cut for my thoughts.
Ex Occultus #2 basically does everything that I didn’t exactly care for about the first installment right. Russell and Emmett create a much smoother and easier to get into comic with great story and art to undoubtedly make Ex Occultus a bigger name in Saint James Comics.
Russells story telling in this issue is great. We see our heroes meet their employer, at which point the story is laid out in clear and concise detail as to what the ring is, why they need it, and what they’ll have to do. As the story progresses, the dialogue is kept up with a sharp tongue with the obvious dichotomy between the two main characters playing well. The action sequences of the book are well written, and Russells understanding for how he mixes in myth is great. The page on the back that acts as a glossary for all the myths inside the issue is great and helps show a deep understanding for the world Russells is writing.
Emmett’s artwork is also really great in this issue, and a huge step up from the first issue in my opinion. The characters are formed MUCH better and the shading is superb. The issue is brought much more to life than the previous installment, and it looks awesome and reads even better. There is also a hint of color in this issue which I thought was great, since that’s the one thing this comic is lacking. If it were done in color, it would look amazing, so to have some brief splashes of color really helps in the overall tone of the book. It almost gives it that Frank Miller “I’ll put one color in this one panel” vibe, except it’s not overdone and much more subtle.
All in all, I’m really impressed with Ex Occultus #2. It’s a definite step up from the first issue and, assuming that each book improves upon itself in a fashion such as this, Ex Occultus is sure to be a comic to follow.
Final Verdict: 8.0 – Buy
