The dead are hungry…
Creative Staff:
Writer: Daniel Lapham
Artist: Mike Huddleston
What They Say:
Dr. Ephraim Goodweather scrambles to prevent a possible epidemic and find out what caused the deaths of hundreds of passengers on Flight 753. Terrorism? Chemical warfare? An airborne disease? None of the likely candidates have reared their heads, but as the first night since the incident at JFK International Airport falls on Manhattan, the question is . . . what will?
The Review:
With the first two issues of The Strain, we got a pretty solid and interesting setup for what’s going on, bringing in the initial angle of the mysterious deaths of the passengers on the plane and then delving into a bit of history that shows this is all something that’s been around for ages and ages. While characters are kind fo weak in general since we’re not dealing with too many people in normal situations where we’d get to understand them, the main lead in Eph has been decent as he’s the one trying to bring some basic logic and reason to events and sort it all out as the main investigator. But he’s also the type to not be locked in a box because of his training since surprises can come out of anywhere. Being open to that makes it easier for him to look at things others would scoff at to say the least.
Such is the case at the start here when the old man finally finds Eph and starts going on about things that nobody should know about when it comes to the bodies, such as the lack of decomposition and the white blood. It’s enough for Eph to take seriously when he gets a suggestion on where to investigate next, but he can’t really take to heart the idea of burning all the bodies before it gets dark again. Which is unfortunate, because he and the assistant manage to find some curious things with their investigation and it has them being very on guard about what’s going on. And it’ enough for them to try and get the old man back again, to find out what else he knows. They’re into the investigation but they also act like people should by trying to get access to everything they can to solve the mystery.
While we did have some dark and dangerous stuff in the previous issues, it was more mood and atmosphere than anything else. This time around, the dark things are hungry and they’re going after what they need. The creepy stuff comes from Gabriel and Emma. Gabriel’s rock star life has him already looking gaunt and dead but when he gets the urges to consume and kill, it’s enough to freak him out. The same is hinted at with Emma, but that’s more about the creepy potential rather than something active devouring going on. But the visuals are spot on. Where it goes surreal though is when one of the dead comes back in pure, pasty white and almost patchwork fashion that’s going into the streets and looking to consume people. It’s got an odd flow to it since it has a feeling of being almost random with the way it unfolds. It shows a similar theme to what we see with Gabriel, but there’s a greater mindlessness to it that makes it almost more disturbing.
In Summary:
While this issue feels a little off compared to the first two, it’s still moving the storyline forward and almost showing us a montage style series of events that are going on. I can’t help but to view this series in a theatrical way with how it’s designed and the general way it reads. That’s certainly not a knock on it as it has a good flow overall and the story is unfolding at a good pace. It’s less character driven in a way this time but part of that is because it’s not doing as much exposition either like it did in the first two which also had to deal with more setup and basic introductions. I felt a bit less connected to events this time around mostly because the book is viewed through Eph’s eyes overall and he’s a smaller player in this and has less in the way of discovery and revelations. The Strain has a lot to offer and is definitely keeping me interested in seeing where it’s all going to go and if it’ll go even bigger and further off the rails.
Grade: B
Readers Rating: [ratings]
