Villordsutch reviews Image Comics’ Drumhellar #1…
“When shock-induced visions drive a detective specializing in the paranormal to a small town in South Dakota, he finds himself up against a flesh-hungry bog-man, their mutual ex-girlfriend (did we mention she’s a werewolf?), and a demon that’s stolen his arsenal of psychedelics. Then things start to get weird. We live in strange times. They call for strange ways!”
I clearly am a masochist when it comes to unknown comics as I like to dip into odd things that I have no knowledge of whatsoever. I don’t even really like to look at Wikipedia (other Wikis are available) when I get the unknown comic dropping on my virtual door step; I like to give them a chance to prove themselves, to prove their ability to tell a story. I especially like to see a #1 that not only will I have not even the tiniest idea about, but neither will Wikipedia.
I’ll start by using a simple word to describe Drumhellar – fun. The cover (if you’re judging it by that) looks a wee bit horrific and yes I guess the decomposing body of a Bog(wo)man makes it all look a bit macabre. But now look again at Drum again and you’ll see he’s carrying a golf club and depending on what cover you’ve collected, it will show Drum with said golf club, striking a pose. Opening the comic you find Drum holding the golf club aloft in the middle of the night during a violent thunderstorm, wearing nothing more than a purple dressing gown; this is our introduction to him. Following on from here we are guided, what appears to be rather aimlessly, throughout and around Drum’s main friendship group (two people, and one isn’t overly keen on him) and a series of tall tales which may or may not be overly true at first glance.
This possibly may sound a bit chaotic and initially it is, but this is mainly down to the unwrapping of the story and to be brutally honest I wasn’t gelling with what I was reading at first. I was wondering if I had been sold a lemon and behind this #1 there was a whole series of comics with Drum’s life in it; as the story went on the pieces of this dimenson-spanning jigsaw fell into a number of places – the picture isn’t complete but it’s getting there and I see it doing that over the coming few issues.
This winding tale is being handled by Riley Rossmo (Cowboy Ninja Viking, Bedlam) who appears to know how a story should be gradually teased out to comic book buyers. Turning to the art and colouring (also Riley Rossmo), this matches the tone of the world written, and real life gets smudged (a little) with the cartoon brush, then after an unexpected necro-snog the vivid trip Drum takes looks brilliant, vibrant and electric. Before this review comes to a close – while Rossmo is the man creating this world, spare a thought for Alex Link, the person who is scripting this story from start to finish. Rossmo has brought a sack full of giddy monkeys to bring on the fun and Link has the task of getting these faeces-throwing primates to sit down and eat scones correctly.
Sometimes it’s good to be a masochist.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
Originally published November 7, 2013. Updated April 15, 2018.
