Review – Alabaster: the Good, the Bad, and the Bird #1

A new evil haunts the sun-scorched back roads and ghost towns of the American South—murderous twins who command a legion of ghouls. Once again, Dancy Flammarion must face down demons: both those who walk the world unchallenged and those in her own shattered mind.

Click the jump for preview pages and a review of Alabaster: the Good, The Bad, and the Bird.

I’ll admit it, I’ve never read any of the previous Alabaster stories, but Neil Gaiman has sung the praises of Caitlin R. Kiernan, so I jumped in with no research.

This first issue is really just the tiniest taste of what’s to come with this story. I met several of the main characters, and got a lot of information, but I’ve been dropped into the middle of everything. Finding out what came before is going to be interesting.

Dancy is dead. Nope, no spoilers needed on that one, that’s on page one. She’s in hell, which turns out to be a white nothingness that goes on forever and ever. Though, as it turns out, there’s at least one thing chasing her.

I found out Dancy’s a kind of monster hunter. Several people talk about her as if she’s a legend, as if even catching sight of her was worth a story, unless you were the one she was hunting. If you watch Supernatural she sounds a lot like a Hunter, except even more of a badass.

The people talking about her are two girls in masks who’re making a business transaction with a large man who’s carrying a briefcase. They’re very happy with what’s in the case, and he’s very happy with what they brought in the trunk. I’m not going to tell you what was in either, except the trunk’s much more disturbing.

But I don’t know why Dancy’s in hell. I did find out eventually how she died, sort of, but nothing that came before that.

The tiny tidbits we’ve been given by Caitlin R. Kiernan are pretty much perfect. There’s tons of details, hints of larger stories, and descriptions that tease just enough to make me curious.

The art by Daniel Warren Johnson exactly matches the tone of the story: rich and full of details, and more than a little disturbing. Also, Greg Ruth’s cover is beautiful, but the preview image for issue two is absolutely gorgeous.

Going by just this first issue, I’m hooked. The idea of monster hunters is always fun; you can have so many stories around just that one idea. Never mind the fact that I still have to find out what led up to Dancy’s death, who the girls in masks are, and what they’re going to do with the briefcase. There’s enough set up in just one issue I’m pretty sure I’ll read the next one.

Who’m I kidding; I’m already looking up the stories that came before.

 

Written by: Caitlín R. Kiernan
Art by: Daniel Warren Johnson
Cover by: Greg Ruth

On sale December 9