Okay, comic hipster moment: I liked “The Occultist” back when it was a three-issue miniseries. Significantly less hipstery moment: it’s probably about as good now, kicking off a brand new five-issue series, as it was then. Is calling things “hipster” even relevant any more? I don’t know. Let’s talk about “The Occultist.”
Written by Tim Seeley
Illustrated by Mike NortonAn evil witch doctor needs the book of spells known as the Sword to reject the Occultist. He needs the weapon itself to decide that he is a bad host in the ongoing war against the realm of the dead. The solution lies in a Catholic schoolgirl who dabbles in death for a quick high.
Rob Bailey happened on the book of spells called the Sword while working at a dusty used book store – and since then, his life has never been the same. Well, that’s not exactly right. Rob Bailey himself is still very much Rob Bailey – a dorky colllege kid who isn’t very sure of himself. But when push comes to shove, he can turn to the Sword for knowledge – and the results, you can be assured, are never quite what you’d expect. That’s pretty much all the context you need for this book, by the way; the concept comes across quickly enough that you don’t need to have read the previous miniseries to understand what’s going on.
Anyway, things start off strong with a thoroughly creepy wight encounter, and we see Rob and his colleague Detective Melendez working in tandem to keep all things vengeful and flesh-eating at bay. It so happens that Rob has a crush on Melendez, though, and when he winds up turning to his mentor for help, he gets what is probably the worst bit of advice of all time.
Unfortunately, we don’t see the consequences of this pearl of wisdom, instead discovering a little bit about what this mentor is up too. It’s a jarring change of pace after the wights, and while it’s certainly not boring, it’s the sort of plot-thickening expository scene that would have done better in a later issue. Meanwhile, we haven’t seen anything of our hero that would really get us liking him; he’s a bit drippy, mooning over Melendez as well as his ex-girlfriend.
As for the Catholic schoolgirl that the solicit mentions – well, she only shows up late in the issue, and it’s hard to see how she ties in with the rest of the events, but it’s a reasonably strong hook into the next issue if only because the whole idea is so intriguingly bizarre. A little bit of divination via cell phone dissection is a nice touch.
Mike Norton’s art is always a pleasure to look at, and he’s given the opportunity here to push the envelope in turn of overwhelming splash-pages. The real showstopper is the glimpse into Melendez’s mind while she sleeps, which is probably just as creepy as it sounds, complete with Day of the Dead imagery and a monkey riding a pig for good measure. It’s totally immersive and totally befuddling, getting across the visceral nature of this whole consciousness-projection deal and selling its significance to the overall story, even though the course of action itself is hard to justify.
Generally speaking, though, Mike Norton’s strength tends to be smoothly-rendered, sympathetic characterizations, and without terribly compelling characters to work with in the first place, this aspect of the art falls a little flat. That said, you won’t be forgetting the wights any time soon (the less said here the better); and happily, the final page is a home run and a half, with Norton’s depiction of the schoolgirl hitting a humorous note that contrasts beautifully with the menacing circumstances.
Meanwhile, Allen Passalaqua’s colours are a solid match with the art style. An occultish story is always going to demand an unconventional palette, and Passalaqua keeps the look eccentric without being distracting.
So far as marrying the supernatural with the banal goes, this series is no “Revival” – at least, not yet, and not until we have a real reason to root for our protagonist. If you were a fan of the original miniseries, you’ll definitely like it in this incarnation; there’s still supernatural mayhem aplenty, and Rob’s emotional if immature plight comes across strongly enough. But without previous investment in the material, “The Occultist” casts a pretty weak spell.
Final Verdict: 7.0 – Browse
