ADVANCE REVIEW: “Drumhellar #1″

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Releases November 6, 2013

$3.50

A surrealist descent into insanity, Alex Link and Riley Rossmo’s Drumhellar throws us into a strange world and rarely surfaces for air. The team behind Rebel Blood has returned with another horror series. It might not make a ton of sense, but being so beautifully drawn, it’s fun to get lost.

We meet our hero, Drum Hellar (name based on an actual Canadian town), as he gets hit with lightning, follows a peacock, and argues with his imaginary friend…all in the first few pages. I’m pretty sure all the psychedelic confusion is the point of the book. As Drum goes on his trip, we go down the rabbit hole with him. The narrative tosses readers straight in, so inferring and research will probably be necessary to understand the basics. Being a paranormal private eye, Drum gets involved with werewolves, bogmen and all things supernatural, but his job parameters haven’t been strictly defined.

There seems to be a dual world dynamic going on throughout the book. We get glimpses of that other world (even a look at an otherworldly Drum), but explanation is left to further issues. The scenes between Padma and Drum are a ton of fun, and Rossmo does a great job of toning the weird down during more realistic scenes. He really shines during a scene involving a wacky lotus adventure that has different colors bleeding all over the page. It almost looks like a preschool child scribbled all over the paper, but it has a great effect. The ending asks more questions than it answers and provides a sufficient enough hook to keep us coming back for more.

Closing Comments:

Recommended for horror fans, but I’d be wary to go much broader than that. Alex Link crosses multiple genres, but the general mood and setting is bathed deep in the paranormal. The book doesn’t have any hand holding, and that can sometimes be a problem when it’s a little too hard to understand the basics of the story. Still, Drumhellar is a lot of fun, and could lead to some really exciting mysteries. The bizarre tone, accompanied by Rossmo’s gorgeously erratic art, makes this a worthy issue for a late night read. Did I mention there’s a possibly imaginary ghost cat?

Verdict: 7.5/10

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Alex Smith is a news and reviews writer for Capeless Crusader. When not wasting away in class, he spends all his free time with comics, movies, and video games, and has been since birth. He can spend hours discussing Saga, Hawkeye, or Game of Thrones. Lying Cat’s number one fan. Random brain thoughts: @imapensfan

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