Solomon Kane; Red Shadows
Solomon Kane; Red Shadows Issue 1 & 2 (Dark Horse)
Solomon Kane is an avenging hero out to spill a lot of blood and to beat people to within an inch of their lives. Issue one is a standalone swamp based horror story with an obligatory supernatural twist involving ghosts, ghouls and a madman in a hut and is fairly forgettable. Issue two is the start of a mini story run, with Kane hunting down Le Lupe, a murderous officer whose men have attacked towns in the immediate neighbourhood, violating all the women, slitting everyone’s throats and then razing the buildings to the ground. Kane is obviously out for revenge and that’s where we have the gratuitous gore and action sequences. The visual style has an Ichibod Crane and Sleepy Hollow feel and it’s illustrated with heavy ink and paint work, which suits the creepy supernatural edge and as a scene setter it works well. Although the first issue is more a pilot episode, the second issue leaves a cliff hanger and follows a lot of standard swashbuckling rules. However it’s hard to like Kane as although he chases down wrong doers with an attitude the terminator would have been proud of, he seems to have no describable personality at all apart from a need to do justice. Maybe that’s all you need these days, a Punisher style man-machine as a hero, but it didn’t make me want to keep reading. This comic is a little light on substance but it’s well drawn and worth reading if creepy storylines float your boat. ALEX
