Ex Occultus

Our friends over at Saint James Comics have put out three quick reads that I found over at Drivethrucomics. You can read them right now as well - free (click the title link below)!

Each supernatural mystery thriller is nine pages long and is a cross between, “Indiana Jones, H. P. Lovecraft and The X-Files.” You might also want to add in Sherlock Holmes as well. They were all pretty good and I’ll give each a quick run down. Each one begins with a diary entry which reminded me of Stroker’s Dracula. I thought it was a nice set-up. Also, they are all based on some form of real legend or folk tale.

Warning: Contains Spoilers

Ex Occultus: John The Conqueror

Story: Robert James Russell & Jesse Young
Art: Jon Gyons

Hollander is off on his own in this sea-fearing tale.

There is an African Prince haunting the waters who is out for revenge. Right away we find out they are headed for troubled waters when they think they are saving a woman (bad omen on board) discovered on a life raft. Turns out it’s the African Prince, who kills almost everyone. Everyone except the Captain and young Hollander!

I liked this one. John The Conqueror is a fun and quick read. Russel and Young gave Hollander a bit of depth here as he came off feeling not only young and boisterous, but also confident and sure. It’s a story where Hollander comes into his own. Nicely done! The art was perfect for the story, however the eyes/eyeballs might want to be touched up as in some panels the characters looked googly eyed, particularly the main character Hollander. Not that big of a deal. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of just the young Hollander.

Ex Occultus: Sanctuary

Story: Robert James Russell
Art: Paul Thompson

This is probably the weakest of the three. The story kind of jumped from point ‘a’ to point ‘z’ when Wakefield deduced it was about vampires. There was a little blood and the window open but I felt that wasn’t enough. It was “my wife is missing” and then “it is vampires.” I also had an issue with the fact they used guns to destroy the vampires and with a shot to the head. Of course, they are more than welcome to give their own interpretation, just my two cents. I did like the art as it gave you the feel of a Victorian vampire story. The layouts were done well and it was easy to follow. They might want to proofread better as there were a couple spelling errors. Just needs to be fleshed out a bit, not bad.

Ex Occultus: A Matter of Britain

Story: Robert James Russell
Art: David Neihaus

This is my favorite of the three. It’s a well written interesting story with good art. I would recommend Neihaus be the permanent artist if possible on Ex Occultus as this looked really “sharp” and “crisp.” It’s the best I’ve seen from the various Ex Occultus issues.

It’s hard to go wrong with an Arthurian legend mystery. Similar to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Hollander and Wakefield are called to investigate a strange wailing where they happen upon a lone Sir Lancelot! Due to his love for Guinevere and loyalty toward Arthur, Lancelot finds himself between “worlds” as he could not find peace in life and in death can not rest. This meeting happens to be a rather exciting one for Wakefield as the knight was a boyhood hero. However, as stated sometimes its best to keep them a fantasy as the writer, Robert James Russel, shows us here. Of course, no Knights of the Round Table tale could be without a legendary artifact, and in this one we get Lancelot’s shield! As I stated above these stories are all based on real legend, for those who may not be familiar - Lancelot’s shield being based on. Great ending to this one as well with Russel showing us how much of a class-act Wakefield truly is.

The guys over at Saint James Comics are putting out some really good books. I have noticed with each subsequent issue, an improvement is shown. Keep up the good work!

Update: These stories are part of "Wakefield's Journal." A collection of short stories that can be found every month at the Saint James site. They are updated every Wednesday and give their readers some new stories while they wait for the actual issues to come out. Eventually these will be put out in trade.

For more, see issue two: http://whoissaintjames.com/2009/02/19/ex-occultus-seal-of-solomon-2

And issue three: http://whoissaintjames.com/2009/02/18/ex-occultus-tomb-of-achilles

Thanks to Jesse Young from Saint James comics for the info!

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