Music is a subject that mostly goes untouched by the comic book
creator community. Sure everyone likes super-hero comics, but how many
of those readers listen to metal, or to indie, or pop or any number of
the hundreds of genres out in the world. Music titles are often a
little too niche for many writers/artists to touch. Alas it’s a shame,
but when a series does eventually come along, one promising to explore
a hidden yet very real concept no less, like Charles Soule’s 27 for example, it tends to turn a lot of heads.

Issue #2 jumps right into the thick of things; mysterious devices
planted in chests, demon manifestations, broken truths and, oh yeah; a
room full of ghosts chilling in a famous guitarists trashed lounge.
This is the world of 27, a supernatural and intriguing take
on one particularly peculiar moment from rock ‘n’ roll’s estranged
history. Any fans of rock will tell you that the best and the brightest
tend to die young; it’s almost a signpost of success. The legion of
dedicated fans will also tell you that strangely enough, a lot of them
died, you guessed it, aged just 27. This is a fate Charles Garland is
facing, a fate he is hoping to escape from… Soule however, has some
rather different (and grand) ideas.

As the book delves deeper into the supernatural and unknown, I can
only find myself being dragged more and more into this world that Soule
is expertly crafting. A good portion of this issue feels at times
simply like exposition on the surface, but everything has another
layer. Soule is leaving tantalising clues all over this book, every
flip of the page brings a new weird and wonderful twist to what could
have been a conventional fanfare story. 27 does in fact take more twists and turns then I ever thought it could, and I love it for that.

The supernatural spin is feeding the story a life of it’s own, the
whole thing feels strangely classic occult but another twist to crush
that idea is lurking somewhere in the shadows ahead. There’s this
possessive creepiness to the book that’s really digging deep at my
soul, Soule is taking a classic ‘deal with the devil’ scenario and
turning it inside out. The dialogue is snappy, but this isn’t Soule’s
only strength – his ability to weave mystery is compelling.

The art plays a big role in constructing this mysterious atmosphere. Renzo Podesta’s
art has an illusive dream-like quality to it, his style is very loose
but it lends effortlessly to Soule’s story. As the plot elements
continue to pile on the strange, Podesta’s art makes it look like the
realms of reality and this other nine-obsessed world are blending into one, the murky depths of a rock stars subconscious?

27 is an intriguing title for many reasons, well written
and undeniably captivating. It’s not the straight up exploration of the
twenty-seven-age death mystery I was expecting; it’s instead a
supernatural occult look into the murky unknown. My only hopes are that
Soule and Podesta manage to continue the books energy through it’s
final two issues… and of course I hope Cobain and Morrison pop up for
cameos at some point; that would be the icing on the cake.

www.negativezone.co.uk