A new land that time forgot!
Creative Staff:
Story: B. Clay Moore
Art: Clayton Henry, Lewis Larosa
Colors: Brian Reber
Letterer: Dave Lanphear of A Larger World
What They Say:
Fifteen years ago, the world’s most famous soccer star and his former supermodel wife –pregnant with their unborn child – disappeared without a trace. The world believes they are dead… But, in reality, their private jet crash-landed on a mysterious, unknown island ruled by by prehistoric creatures from another time…
This is the story of how they lost their humanity.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
When Valiant kicks off a new series I definitely find myself interested, though my curiosity is more for titles that aren’t related to other ones. I’ve not been enmeshed in most of their series that crossover at this point, such as the Harbinger stuff, so when we get a new four-issue miniseries that tells what looks to be a self-contained series, or at starter point for something that can connect elsewhere, I’m definitely interested. With Savage, B. Clay Moore does a ton of heavy character lifting here to establish background and it pays off in spades, especially since Clayton Henry and Lewis Larosa do some fantastic stuff in bringing the book to life – and not just when it comes to the dinosaurs or the other other present day material. It’s an engaging book from start to finish because the combination of art and words bring these characters to life in a fleshed out way that few books achieve after a dozen issues.
The present day material is fairly minimal here with what we do get as it gives us our title savage as a powerful young man that’s taking down a dinosaur in the island forest area. It’s the first quarter of the book and it’s pretty much wordless but the team conveys a lot about him in a way while also allowing the artists to really show off not just the dynamic action elements, which are fantastic, but just the attention to detail with the dinosaurs themselves. But what wins me over with it is seeing how our title character looks as it’s all very primal and I love that his eyes are shown as mostly closed (but not really) throughout it. It gives him an air of mystery and power that keeps us from seeing into the “window of his soul” just yet. But even with that, the little bit we get when he returns to his home and we see the items around and what holds meaning for him, the important pieces are put into play.
Where the bulk of the book spends its time is in the past, which feels like our present based on the technology at hand, where we’re introduced to Ronnie and Kevin Sauvage. Kevin’s a solid soccer start about to transition to America after his star has fallen a bit overseas while his wife is a former supermodel that has turned into his business manager. There are a lot of different things at play with their relationship that simply makes them fully realized, even if it’s worn on the surface just a bit too much. It’s expected considering what has to be covered and Moore handles it well. With their private plane crashing along the way and the two of them and their infant son KJ surviving, it sets the stage for what’s to come as they begin to investigate the island and we see what kind of troubles are ahead. Yes, dinosaurs, and a grisly moment at the end, but I really want to see the parents story play out in full here and hope that it’s a dominant part of at least the next issue.
In Summary:
I had no idea what to expect going into this series beyond enjoying some of Clayton Henry’s artwork previously. What I got was a series that feels like it’s close to a passion project with how it’s presented. The work is one that I hope will be a strong overall read once all four issues are done, but the first issue is one that makes me crave the remaining three right now, something I don’t often feel. Moore’s story is simple but he really makes the characters come alive and the story has me wanting to know what’s going on with this island and how KJ becomes the man that we see. There’s a lot to like here and this is potentially going to be a fantastic gem to take in. I’m excited to see what’s in store for us here.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: November 30th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
