Prepare to be thrown into an action packed new world with Aspen Comics The Scourge.  The new series, written by Scott Lobdell, takes the opportunity, with an “O” issue, to give you a taste of what to expect in The Scourge and it’s certainly worth checking out. 

The short issue wastes no time in pitting NYPD SWAT Officer and former Marine John Griffin against a series of formerly human monsters who are now hell-bent on killing him. All the while John is trying to avoid getting his head bitten off by his ex-wife for being late to pick up his son from school. The issue only contains 12 pages of actual story but each and every page is filled to the brim with action.  

Lobdell is trying to sell the world to you and he’s doing it one of the best ways around, with lots of great action. If Griffin gets cut by one of these monsters then he’ll turn into one of them. That adds a whole other layer of tension to the fight as Griffin not only has to kill the monsters but he must do it unscathed. Sure there are a lot of monster stories out there and Lobdell doesn’t do a lot to make his story break the conventions. Monster outbreak within days everyone is either dead or turned and the hero is the only one left. What Lobdell manages to do is add a bit of character to the story through the ex-wife on the phone. While John is busy fighting a monster she thinks he’s ignoring him and deliberately working late. When he accidentally hangs up on her she’s livid and it’s quite funny to listen to her berate John while he’s busy killing monsters.  

The art is solid although John looks like Frank Castle, with monsters. Seriously though dark hair and stubble is like the new hero look. Can’t someone shake it up a little bit? Also it would have been nice to see some color variation between the monsters and the backgrounds. The monsters are this stony grey and the backgrounds are a similar shade of grey and it’s just a little bit too much grey. The action is handled well and it makes John look like a former Marine come SWAT officer due to his fighting skills and ability to think on his feet, taser to the face! While the last page looks like a shot out of any number of action films it looks freaking awesome, a full splash page of John flying through the air on a bike guns blazing. Stick that on a poster and I’d be interested immediately.  

The issue doesn’t do much in the way of develop the story but that’s not what you expect from an #0 issue. It presents monsters, a world gone to hell, the man who can save it and what; personally, he’s got to lose if he can’t. It’ll be the development of this last part and the emotional side of the story that’ll determine whether The Scourge can rise above the mirade of other monster stories out there to be something greater oh and a good twist about where the monsters came from etc will also go a long way. The artwork is typical monster action comic but it does it well with a few nice full page spreads to catch the eye. Throw in a whole bunch of early sketches and The Scourge is worth a read.