Coming on the heels of a dialogue-heavy and expository first issue, does “Hoax Hunters” #2 continue in the same vein? All signs point to “yes” as Moreci, Seeley and Medellin settle on an uneasy compromise between character development and action.
Written by Michael Moreci & Steve Seeley
Illustrated by Axel Medellin“DIE OFF ANOTHER DAY,” Part Two
Danger awaits the Hoax Hunters at the mysterious carnival – a roaming band of cryptids with an agenda all their own. An old foe emerges, wielding a power the likes of which the Hoax Hunters have never seen. Not to mention an enormous, hideous monster.
“Hoax Hunters” really has got an excellent concept behind it: a reality show that sets out to expose cryptozoological phenomena as fake when everybody involved knows them to be real. Oddly, the first issue diverted our attention from this concept and set about involving the characters in the investigation of a mystery without filming very much of what they were doing. It seemed more interested in lengthy conversations between the characters than in the actual work of creating a show and deluding an audience. Fair enough: if this is to be a character-driven series, with the concept-related details to be spread out over the course of many issues, then a slightly clunky first issue is forgivable. It did hint at some intriguing bits of backstory for each of the characters, and it’s in this issue that one of those hints is expanded upon.
Unfortunately for Regan, Ken, Jack and Murder (that last Hoax Hunter is a spacesuit full of crows, so his involvement in the action is fairly limited), this bit of backstory has something to do with a cult, and requires a run-in with a gang of surly cryptids. But that’s pretty much it for the plot, and instead of going the character-driven route, deepening the reader’s investment in the characters by integrating emotional moments into the action, Moreci and Seeley focus on surface-level conversations laying out the facts of the situation at hand. We don’t wind up learning much more about Jack, even though it’s something from his past that’s motivating the investigation, and Ken only gets one semi-comedic line to break up his otherwise uniformly pragmatic attitude.
But the biggest problem on the level of character development may be Regan. She’s pretty much constantly whining in this issue, and doesn’t seem particularly interested by the investigation going on around her. And keeping in mind the hint of backstory we get in the first issue — something about a bad experience in her childhood, where she was put on television and exhibited for her supernatural capabilities — it seems counterintuitive to make her come across as this shallow.
To put it differently: if Regan’s a wounded and complex character who puts forth a certain kind of personality in order to protect herself, fine; but it would be better if there were some indications that this is in fact the case, instead of a two page sequence where Jack, Ken and the Sheriff deduce things and all she does is shoo away flies and look annoyed. Even her brief show of agency toward the end of the issue doesn’t serve to make her a more admirable or interesting personage; it feels more like an excuse to show us what her powers look like in action, and raises questions as to why she hasn’t used them up until now. (Surely she could have used them to dispatch those flies…?)
Writing hiccups aside, the art in this issue is fairly strong, with its main strength being its intelligibility. Medellin never leaves us in any doubt as to what is going on or where’s it’s happening, putting just the right amount of background detail in each panel. And while most panels in the first half are fairly by-the-book, a gory scene toward the end is particularly well handled, coming across as both horrifying and realistic. There’s also a magnificent monster on the last page, and while it’s unclear how its anatomy allows for things like moving around or eating, its physical incoherence is also what makes it scary and impressive, or, if you want to get literary about it, positively Lovecraftian.
Continued belowThat said, there are some problems with the renderings of the characters. Regan seems unable to stand still without either cocking her hip or pushing her chest out, and while this might make sense given that she’s the eye candy element of a television show, there are no cameras around to justify her preening. Plus, some of her poses look flat-out uncomfortable (watch for a panel in which she’s hunched over with her hip cocked and one arm extended rigidly downwards). Jack, meanwhile, is so muscular that it’s hard to understand how he moves around. He’s certainly got too much bicep to be able to comfortably touch the back of his own head, and a panel in which he does so fudges his proportions so that the pose looks more believable.
The colouring job is for the most part fine, with the nighttime scenes at the carnival coming across particularly well for not leaning too hard into blacks and greys. The only puzzler is a daytime one that looks like something out of a game of Candyland, with very, very green grass under an Easter egg blue sky. If it were a happy scene this choice might make sense — but the team is standing in a field full of dead animals, and the bright tones really jar the reader out of any sense of foreboding or unease.
Tristan Jones’ cover is probably the best thing about this issue, taking the most iconic character in the team and splicing him into the oft-reproduced image of Bigfoot from the Patterson-Gimlin film. The cover has got a nice distressed-film look, complete with scratches, and a subtle, limited colour scheme; the result is an image that’s mysterious as well as faintly sorrowful. Of course, this means that it conjures up expectations for a much deeper issue, thematically, than what we get.
All things considered “Hoax Hunters” isn’t doing its premise justice on the level of story in this issue, and while this may be the result of a slower pace than is employed by most comics, the character development isn’t coming to the fore in order to compensate. What’s left is an issue that’s neither here nor there in terms of action versus character development, that has a few art-related problems besides. If the third instalment doesn’t step things up in a major way you may want to put this series on notice.
Final Verdict: 6.5 — Browse
