Scorn #1 Septagon Studios

 

Scorn #1 sets the stage for a very gritty, dramatized look at the world of gang violence, how it can evolve and how it can impact the lives of those caught in its wake.  It can be a violent title and the author, Kevin Moyers, has a healthy respect for head shots. That said, the violence is tempered with character driven emotion and offers the reader an intriguing start for what could become a promising series from Septagon Studios. 

 

The title, from start to finish, feels very raw.  It wasn't what I was expecting from some of the pre-release press that I've read, but that isn’t a negative point for this story.  It reads as if we're seeing the tale through the focal point of the central character, Michael. I like that perspective. Everything feels just a little distorted and drawn out as the reader is drawn into that emotion. It's almost, at a few points, like the film technique known as bullet time. Here, the effect would be rendered on the printed page which is no short feat and certainly proves a relevant element increasing the feel of the overall story by slowing down and evolving the action moments.  

 

Michael was born of violence (his mother was killed very near the time of his birth) and he can’t shake that fact as dreams of the incident fill his head each night. He is unsure of how his mother looked which did a lot to draw me, as a reader, into his sense of loss. I wasn't entirely clear on the fate of Michael's father, but this is only issue one and there's clearly more to the story ahead.  

 

Later, the death of Michael's best friend at the hands of gang violence sets the stage of “Obsession”, the first chapter of Scorn and frames the story presented in issue #1.

 

In retaliation for this second violent loss, Michael quickly gives up his own future in an effort to avenge his friend's death and find his killer. In some small way it also feels like he's seeking a path to fill the void left by the death of his mother.

 

Michael quickly becomes an avenging angel opting to take the lives of his gangland enemies. He now lives to hunt them opting for vigilante justice rather than traditional methods. Along the way he meets Sammi, the first victim he saves, who offers him more than just her thanks following a sudden rescue.

 

The story does a lot to set up the various elements of the story, both through text and through visual cues laced into the art. The art style of Phillipp Meundorf wouldn’t work with some titles, but seems to fit right in with the edge and style of this tale. It helps set the direction of the story and struck this reader as quite reminiscent of Bill Sienkiewicz. It's not the kind of art you can scan in passing as you read the book. It takes a moment as you make your way through the issue to absorb everything presented by the panels and pick up on some of the visual cues.

 

The book clearly has a bit of a grim feel to it. It's the darkest of dark knight styled tales, but very grounded in the real world. Michael is a loner who has experienced real loss now twice in his life. I'll tune in to the series for issue #2 with the hope this this tale and its protagonist finds redemption as it unfolds on some very mean streets.

 

Scale of 1 to 10 ... 6
July 28nd, 2007 ... Review by Chuck