The comic book horror game is a vast bastion with tons of depth. But thanks to pop culture, zombies have been the creature of choice for a very long time. It’s not that they’re bad it’s just they have become beyond boring. So how do you spice them up? I think that N.A.S.’ The Curse and the Damned may have something… In the middle of Manhattan New York a handful of important people gather due to the fact that they were summoned by The Shifter and The Gray Clan. Three jungle cats enter the warehouse and begin to morph into a trio of humanoids. They are doctors that have been researching a cure for a curse of the werewolf that all of their people share.
As they dispute the idea of the cure the doctors tell the group that they have a human volunteer that is willing to take the cure. The plan is to bite the girl and see if she transforms to a werewolf. She agrees and the doctors put things in motion.
The girl is bitten and she slowly begins to slip into a coma. The doctors get nervous as they wait for her to change. Soon they rush her back to their facility and hook her up to life support. A few weeks later the woman is up and moving around. The doctors let her return home and promise to keep tabs on her. Satisfied that the cure is a success they decide to follow-up with their test subject one last time. With no response, the doctors send someone to check her place out. Once at her place they find the poor girl dead…the living dead.
The idea of The Curse and the Damned is not too original but it is a refreshing use of the typical horror creature tropes. Having the werewolves’ possibly screw themselves out of a possible cure and creating what could be an adversary in the zombies is very interesting. Also, the fact the wolves debated the trials of their “condition” really worked. It adds another layer to in their struggle and made the narrative more interesting. It would be nice to see this continue to be underlying theme.
Another surprise in this book was the art! It was very solid throughout. The copy that was reviewed was half-finished so not all pages were in color, most were in black and white and even light pencils and to tell you the truth I couldn’t tell you which one I liked more. No matter what, it’s a great looking book. The creatures look intimidating and the overall character design is just plain cool. Hat’s off to Francesco Laquinta and the whole team for that matter.
If you’re a fan of anything that The Curse and the Damned has to offer then this will be right up your alley. So do yourself a favor and keep an eye on this book and for that matter keep an eye out N.A.S Studios. You’ll be happy you did.
Score: 4/5
Story: David Sandoval Writer: Luis M. Cruz Artist: Francesco Laquinta Publisher: N.A.S. Studios Price: $4.00 Website