Review – The Occultist #3 (Dark Horse)

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Writer: Tim Seeley
Artist: Mike Norton
Release Date: 4th of December 2013

While I enjoyed the first two issues of the series, I’m not too sure about where the story is going now. The “voice” of the characters is still there and manages to sound like teens, without sounding like a cheap sitcom, the art is still there and looks as good as it has in previous issues, as is the light humour that breaks up the otherwise quite serious nature of the book. however, for some reason, the newest release seemed to fall alittle flat for me.

I should say though, I am still enjoying the book, the similarities to supernatural teen dramas I used to watch on TV are all there and still great. The book is a mix of dark humour, magic, demons and what a group of teens would do if they stumbled into that kind of world. The art by Mike Norton helps capture this, with it feeling just cartoony enough, but with nice clean lines and monster creations that remind you that this is, at it’s heart, a horror book.

It’s possible that my feelings of being let down are the common “mid-story blues” where a mini-series’ middle issue that is setting up the finale falls flat because it’s exactly that; set up. when read with the other two issues it’s fine, but on it’s own, it just doesn’t live up to what it’s came before, and where Ii can only hope the story is going.

If you have enjoyed the series so far, then still pick it up, because the set up for the next two issues is definitely there and i can’t wait to see how the story pans out, but if you’re thinking about picking up the series with this one then I would reccomend going back and picking up the rest of the mini first before jumping in with this one.

A solid book, let down slightly by the middle-ness ( is that even a word) of it. that ultimately is still enjoy reading.