This is the most Vertigo-y title released by Vertigo in a while - very small seeds planted in early issues that will hopefully grow as we go on, along with lots of suspense and cliffhangers to keep readers going. Every character is a spout of knowledge like in a Dan Brown novel and we're never fully sure if we're in supernatural territory or not.Whether this model is a good thing or not depends on who you ask - there are unlikely to be any big muscled men punching each other in Times Square here.
Personally, I am very excited in a slow-burn story that will hopefully have large payoff further down the line, however, like most Vertigo titles this may be a little slow for the issue format. That said, it should sell very well in trades, and I recommend that people give it a shot then.
This issue marks the end of the first storyline, and things are pacing along slowly and surely. We have a protaginist and a love interest, we have a mysterious villain, we have a puzzle for our heroes to solve. I've found that the writing doesn't have a unique style yet and as such this feels somewhat by the numbers - the characters don't feel like they have any distinct personality traits for the reader to connect or identify with yet. This could be something that becomes clearer with time though - this first storyline was more setting up the world than the characters, which makes sense considering many of the characters we had been introduced to die in this issue.
That said, the writing is still pretty solid, just not reaching dizzying highs yet. This could partially be because I am not familiar with Carey's writing style and as such I don't know whether he will build up to something more.
The art in this issue is very impressive. I got hints of John Romita JR style in this issue, which I enjoyed. It is always clear what is happening, the characters all have their own look despite a fairly simple style on the faces, and the villain looks genuinely quite terrifying. While not necessarily conventially or technically amazing art as standalone panels, they work fantastically in sequential art.
I imagine the first trade will be out soon, I'd say give it a shot. This could turn out to be the next Y The Last Man, especially if I start to feel more of an affection for the characters.
Story: 3 - Good
Art: 5 - Excellent
