REVIEW: CULT OF THE LAMB #1
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CREATIVE TEAM:
(W) Alex Paknadel (A) Troy Little (C) Nick Filardi (L) Crank
SOLICITATION:
In partnership with Devolver Digital and Massive Monster, acclaimed writer Alex Paknadel (All Against All, Red Goblin) and Eisner Award–nominated artist Troy Little (Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons, Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas) comes a deviously delightful, heretic-smashing excursion into the sprawling cosmology of the worldwide, BAFTA–nominated video game phenomenon that IGN calls “adorably demonic”!
In a land pervaded by cruelty and evil, the most innocent among us—young Lamb, the last of their kind—was selected to become a final dark sacrifice. Their death would forever seal the darkest of the Old Gods from our realm and usher in a new age ruled by the four eldritch Bishops of the Old Faith. So Lamb died . . . then forged a deal of their own. At the crossroads of eternity, Lamb was met by the imprisoned deity known as the One Who Waits, who revealed the lies and distortions of the false prophets who rule the world above. And so, Lamb was bequeathed the power and responsibilities of the Red Crown and returned to the land of living with unholy powers to exact vengeance and deliver a new cult unto the earth.
FIRST THOUGHT:
This is one of those books that I saw the title and knew I had seen game footage, but couldn’t quite remember it. Within a few pages of reading this issue I remembered seeing a “let’s play” on YouTube and was hooked on this issue.
THE STORY:
There has to be a bit of worry when a writer or artist takes on a licensed property and brings it to a format like comics. You have your editors wanting something from you. The license owner has expectations. And then there’s your own personal and creative needs that you want to fulfill. Alex Paknadel and Troy Little really don’t show any of that hesitation in this first issue and it is a breath of fresh air.
The concept of CULT OF THE LAMB is dark and cruel if you did it with humans and demons, but when you throw in cutely drawn characters from Troy Little, then you’re allowed to have a lot of fun with it at the expense of the characters and that’s what Alex Paknadel does from the opening page. Our lead character’s own fate is thrown for a twist in just a few pages and Paknadel is off the races with some fun dark humor that never crosses a line. This isn’t something that a child should be reading right before bed, but it isn’t a scary and gory book. Paknadel’s dialogue is fun and the pacing of the issue never feels rushed, even though a lot happens. It is a very strong showing from Paknadel that can only get better as the series progresses.
Crank is a veteran letterer in the industry and does an amazing job using lettering throughout this issue to portray the volume of all of the voices. His dialogue layout is great and never obstructs Little’s linework. It’s got to be difficult for letterers to dance between the linework from panel to panel and not lose the pace of the story, but Crank never misses a beat.
THE ART:
Troy Little and Nick Filardi have a field day with the art in this issue. Little’s style is perfect for this book and the tone that is set by Paknadel’s writing. His style takes off the edge of the horror around the Lamb, but doesn’t round it off too much as there is plenty of blood being spilled throughout the issue. Filardi’s colors work wonders on each page and bring so much life to these characters. There are a lot of empty backgrounds on many of the pages allowing for Filardi to fill them in with pops of color to set the energy level for the storytelling. When there’s art that is not only strong, but helps compliment the writing, it’s hard to go wrong.
CLOSING THOUGHTS:
Licensed properties in comics have become stronger over the years and CULT OF THE LAMB #1 is another solid example of how strong they are getting. Paknadel, Little, Filardi, and Crank do a very good job with this issue and it has me very curious to see what they do with the next issue. Recommended without a doubt.
