I didn’t think I would get so excited when I saw Wild’s End come out this week, but I did. I think I owe that all to Dan Abnett and I.N.J. Culbard. The first issue, although only setting up our characters and setting, was a belated addiction. Once it was over, I wanted to see more. Well Wild’s End is back this week and man did I love it! Peter, Clive, and Gilbert are all hiking through the woods. They are worried. Clive mostly. Clive, even though believing in aliens, is the most level headed. Peter and Gilbert have excuses for everything. They don’t know the real threat at hand. In issue number 2, these two will quickly learn that threat. So the gang is searching for Fawkes. After he ran into town hollering of unknown life killing his friend, no one believed him, but Clive had a weird suspicion. Then Clive starts to smell burning. They quickly run to Mrs. Swagger’s home to find it up in a blaze. She was the pig that we left off with last issue. The readers know that this wasn’t an ordinary fire but that little robot mimicking War of the Worlds had to start this fire.
I love the feeling this comic gives you. It is a detective, mystery, Twain-y, and alien invasion story all wrapped up into one. The art only adds to these feelings with the rich colors and ultimately dark tone. It is set up perfectly. The story moves the characters around a lot too. So it always seem like they are hunting something, or rather they are being hunted. And the last but favorite part of this book is the stereotypical animals and their personalities. Just one example of that is Clive being a bloodhound. He is the most aware animal and also the most handy. It matches what we think of when thinking of bloodhounds. I don’t want to ruin the others for you, so you are just going to have to catch this comic to read its greatness.
Now that Clive, Gilbert, and Peter know there is something up. They quickly search the woods again. This is where it all goes down. We meet a new character that I hope continues to show up within the issues. Her name is Susan. She is a secluded writer living in the woods. The first encounter we have with her involves a shotgun, so right away I knew I would her. She is the strong female type that again will fit into the gang perfectly, if they decide to keep her in the mix.
Wild’s End is great way to start off your comic week. The story is incredible and I would suggest buying issue #1 and #2 together. I think the story reads better and honestly #1 will leave you on edge. Take my advice and get as many Boom! titles as you can. Wild’s End will become a fan fav if it hasn’t already.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Dan Abnett Artist: I.N.J. Culbard Publisher: BOOM! Studios Price: $3.99 Release Date: 10/15/14 Format: Mini-Series; Print/Digital