Well it’s settled… I’m going to have to read the first volume of Hexed. I don’t know what it is about this series, but it’s become one of my go-to books each month. Dan Mora’s artwork is definitely a contributing factor, but I’m also jealous of the world that Michael Alan Nelson has created. Jealous because it’s simple and yet tickles the imagination with each layer that’s added. This third issue is more of a plot driven issue. Usually when someone says something like that it means that it’s a boring issue that’s serving the greater good of the series and sacrificing an issue to do so. Not so this time around. We’ve been introduced to a lot of characters in a short time and what’s crazier is that the first evening of the story is just barely coming to a close.
I’m going to jump to the part that we’re all wondering about and that’s Lucifer who is trapped in her witch’s circle with seven angry witches standing outside of it. They don’t like Lucifer as she’s the reason they’re trapped where they are (volume one anyone?), but through this we learn that the witches are the Harlot’s sisters. They begin breaking into Lucifer’s circle slowly but surely. Lucifer could fix the circle… if she was alive. The next option is to haunt the intern and ask her for assistance in fixing it, but it’s a risky thing to do. The Harlot is the keeper of all secrets so to ask her a question is put yourself at risk of owing her.
There’s actually a lot of little scenes that happen in this issue and all of them are pretty incredible. There’s no pay off though and that’s why I called it a plot building issue. There might be some incredible scenes, but the resolution to them are dangled in front of us on a string. Nelson has become incredibly talented at roping the reader along, but not relying solely on the cliffhanger ending. There are so many loose threads that he doesn’t need to rely on it, in fact the one for this issue is just icing on the cake.
Not to take anything away from the story because it’s great, but Mora’s artwork is killing me in the best of ways. If there’s a breakout talent of the year it’s Mora in my opinion; not only for Hexed, but also for Quixote that I selfishly want him to continue to work on as well. He’s really taken ownership of these characters and considering that Emma Rios worked on the first volume, well that’s an impressive feat.
With that comes the coloring by Gabriel Cassata, who is a staple on several of BOOM!’s titles. Cassata has proven time and time again that their coloring is impressive and adaptive. The coloring along with Mora’s art, were one of the biggest reasons I checked out this series.
It’s really not too late to jump on this new series and if you’re a trade waiter, well I hope that BOOM! does an introductory price on it so that more people are drawn to it. They have a handful of titles that have become a must read for me and I’m happy to say that. For a while I wasn’t really enjoying a lot of BOOM!’s titles, but now I can’t find enough good things to say. Give Hexed a chance if you like supernatural stories with deep characters and well-developed worlds.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Michael Alan Nelson Artist: Dan Mora Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 10/8/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital