Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Severed #1
Image Comics
Snyder, Tuft & Futaki
Scott Snyder and company launch their latest foray into the genre of horror with Severed. The opening issue doesn't necessarily deliver much in the way of fright but it does present a few interesting characters and scenarios that may come back as something bigger in subsequent issues. The question is whether or not the opener has enough in it to keep you coming back and I can answer that with a definitive "depends". The art in the story is very good and sets a perfect tone for the story. Overall, this is a good book and an entertaining read.
The book tells the story of two boys set during the first World War. One is a twelve year-old runaway who is presumably seeking out his biological father. The other is an orphan that is given up by the orphanage to take on a prestigious apprenticeship with General Electric. At this point the danger is obvious to both boys. They are both, mostly, alone in the big and scary world. Neither has any idea what lurks out there for them.
Here is where the book manages to get across one of its ideas well. This is the notion that at the turn of the twentieth century the world was still a very trusting and unassuming world. A place where people could let their children go off with other adults and think nothing of their safety. As Snyder notes in the back of the issue, a place where the rules were still being written. To try this in today's day and age would be impossible. What orphanage would simply give away a child with the assumption that General Electric is hiring away underage kids to do field word? Again, it works here.
The piece I struggled with was the execution. The boy that runs away hops a train, in which he is thrown off. Yet, there are some five or six other kids only a few feet away unnoticed by the man on the train. Also, how exactly did this kid manage to grab hold of the train without being spotted after he was thrown out? It all seemed a little fuzzy to me. Another aspect of the book that concerns me is that Snyder is pouring over too familiar ground of his work in American Vampire. I was worried when I saw this book was set in the 1910s and my concern grew with the final page reveal. I simply don't want this to seem like a lost arc from American Vampire and it feels too much like this right now.
The artwork is good. There are some good tones to the issue and the facial expressions are done very well to present action and reaction. The aforementioned train experience seems like it could have been helped out with some clearer panel direction but overall we have a good visual comic book.
Severed's best introduction came at the end when Snyder enumerated the genesis behind the concept. I was disappointed there wasn't more of this in the opening issue. This issue acts as a good set up issue but I'm not sure I can stick with much more of this series until it presents something more to sink my teeth into. I mildly recommend this for fans of the creators or of the horror genre.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
