Read through The Damned vol 1., by Cullen Bunn, Brian Hurtt & Bill Crabtree: So funny thing. This book is being billed as the first volume of the new ongoing series by the creative team behind The Sixth Gun. Well, I guess it is in a manner of speaking. This series was actually original published as a black and white mini series 10 years ago by Oni Press. The team always planned to return to the book but The Sixth Gun blew up and ran for what, 12ish volumes?, so now the team are in fact launching The Damned as an ongoing book, and Oni have repackaged and *remastered* the original mini as volume 1, coloured by cohort Bill Crabtree.
As for the book then? It's pretty great! I was worried that such an old offering from Bunn & co. might come off badly after reading a fair amount of The Sixth Gun, and Bunn's other works, but I actually think this is one of the better things I've read from him. The premise is simple: guns & gangsters in the prohibition era with the twist that demons walk the earth and aren't above a bit of double dealing themselves.The lead Eddie is a bit of a rogue and acts as a middle man between the various gang. It's dangerous work, but Eddie is the man for the job, down to being cursed to return from death in exchange for a life and all. The book is categorised as a horror, hard boiled crime saga but really we're talking a pulpy adventure, very much doing crime the way the team did western. There's mysteries to be solved, dangerous dames, back stabbing - you name it. If it's a trope, it's in here, but it's really good fun. I could see anyone who likes The Sixth Gun or stuff like Lobster Johnson getting a kick out of the book. Hurtt's art is nice and moody & Crabtree provides the right colour palette to enhance but never muddy the work, it's very clean. All the various demons look great too, with a lot of character to them.
Definitely will pick up the ongoing, the book was great and left a few plot threads in the air to hook into next time around. It'll be interesting to see if or how the book shifts with 10 years under the team's belt and a successful long run under their belt. Also nice is Oni Press are putting this volume out for a hardline $9.99, with the price right there on the cover. It's a new initiative of theirs and not only do I appreciate this kind of thing in general, I'd say doubly so with Oni, as their trades have been pricey in the past. Check it out if you like this sort of thing. It's not too deep but it's a good ride.
