It’s not easy being a detective in a city filled with creaturs from mythology.
Creative Staff:
Story: Fabian Rangel, Jr., Javier Caba
Art: Javier Caba
Colors: Javier Caba
Letterer: Ryan Ferrier
What They Say:
Diego and Gabriel Soliz are two unusual brothers just trying to do their job in an even more unusual city. What’s their job? They’re detectives in a city populated by creatures from mythology and fantasy. When an Aztec skull is stolen from the museum, the BLOOD BROTHERS are assigned to the case!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Taking a familiar story and infusing it with unusual elements is nothing new and it often works well. Dynamite’s newest miniseries involves just that coming from writing collaborators Fabian Rangel, Jr. and Javier Caba with Caba also handling the art and color duties for it. It’s my first experience with both creators and it’s one that has me curious to see where they’ll go with it. Admittedly, I went into it not expecting too much as we get a cover that features some interesting artwork but includes a luchador with it, which isn’t exactly my cup of tea in general. But there’s something to be said for checking out things you normally don’t and discovering new works that way, and I find myself curious where this team will go with this.
The premise gives us what seems like a 1950’s style period where we’re introduced to brothers Diego and Gabriel, detectives in the police who have a lot to deal with. The setting is interesting, and hinted at through a brief but inconclusive flashback, where creatures of mythology and folklore have a place in the world now and interact just like everyone else. They’re mostly humanoid at this stage and act just like anyone else but there are other elements to it as well that slowly creep into it. Diego, for example, has the ability to talk to ghosts and can see things through one of his eyes that nobody else can, such as following footsteps from a crime scene. His brother hasn’t shown anything just yet but the man is a brick outhouse that wears a luchador costume and is very protective of Deigo. Gabriel’s definitely protective of his brother Diego but comes across as not quite as cynical about the world at this point.
We get to see the dynamic between the brothers and some of the creatures that exists in this world, and the police department, early on. What sets the story moving forward is that the pair are sent to look into an Aztec skull that’s stolen from a museum that has a history of curses that feels like it may have more merit these days with the way the world is. For the brothers, the intriguing part is that one of the pictures about the skull’s past is that it includes their father that’s been missing for some time, which makes it clear where this story is likely to go. But it sets some easy dynamics into motion and some solid dialogue between the brothers that further establishes their personalities and what may be motivating them to different degrees.
In Summary:
Blood Brothers didn’t knock me out and demand I come back for more but it laid out more than enough to bring me back for more. Rangel’s script is solid and we get a good establishment of the two leads and the setting while leaving a lot of world building to be done still. Caba’s artwork is distinctive without being distracting and he lays out some solid pages and has a good bit of fun with the character designs at times in the background. The leads stand out as well as I particularly like the grim look that Diego gets and there’s a real charm with Gabriel that makes me grin when I see some of his expressions. There’s plenty of potential here even with the familiarity and I’m curious to see where the team will take this book for its run.
Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: June 28th, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
