Trevor Hogg reviews the collection which serves as the opening installment for a comic book series that expands upon the literary universe envisioned by Bram Stoker….
When you have a career involving huge robots, flying reptiles, miniature one-eyed henchmen and blue forest creatures, delving into the world of vampires is not that much of a stretch for Stephan Franck who has worked on The Iron Giant (1999), How to Train Your Dragon (2010) and Despicable Me (2010) along with directing The Smurfs: The Legend of Smurfy Hollow (2013). With the release of Silver Volume 1 by Dark Planet Comics, a publishing/production company he co-founded with his brother and producer/studio executive Emmanuel Franck, the French born animator has collected the first three issues of his horror heist thriller where a conman attempts to steal from the bloodsucking undead.
Each issue is treated as an individual chapter commencing with Finnigan which introduces the protagonist of the tale who accidentally discovers the existence of a fortune of silver while trying to avoid being captured by an overzealous police officer. Sledge is named after the female lead character who carries on the family tradition of slaying vampires with a lethal efficiency. The Curse of the Silver Dragon has the remainder of the heist team assembled which includes a young clairvoyant boy and retired variety show actor as well as explores the violent and tragic history of the treasure they seek to claim for themselves.
The black and white illustrations add to the spooky crime noir atmosphere as one is never quite sure of what might be lurking in the shadows. James Finnigan is a likeable rogue who has ability to be surprised by what he encounters and muddle his way through problems as they appear. There will obviously be some personality conflicts which allows for exposition to be incorporated as part of the narrative rather than slowing down the plot. Sledge definitely has a sex appeal plus some personal angst to deal with which will result in some interesting complications. The insertion of a child allows for a naïve perspective, thereby, counterbalancing all of the cynical attitudes that his aged collaborators possess.
There is no shortage of extra material as Behind the Pages goes into great detail about the creative process by comparing the original page layouts with the final versions. A fun addition is a gallery of illustrations by artists Rodolphe Guenoden (Rodguen), Takeshi Miyazawa, Marcello Vignali, Julian Roels and Stephan Franck; the images range from a leaping and joyful Sledge swinging her sword around decapitating vampires to a somber anime interpretation of the heroine posing with Finnigan. Silver Volume 1 does a good job in setting up the storyline and characters for an intriguing adventure that will occur over the remaining nine issues.
Images courtesy of Dark Planet Comics.
To learn more make sure to visit the official site for Dark Planet Comics and read Franckly Speaking along with our review of Silver #1 & #2.
Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.
Originally published November 14, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
