Easy jobs are supposed to be easy right?
Creative Staff:
Story: Michael Moreci, Steve Seeley
Art: Chris Dibari
What They Say:
With the Hoax Hunters team in shambles following Jack’s untimely departure, they head to Paris under Donovan’s controversial leadership. Don’t miss this landmark issue, as the series reaches a crucial turning point on and off of the page!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Donovan’s team is in a rut. The production for their television show is going nowhere, and the crew is behind schedule. Donovan decided that the crew should take a job in Paris to get away from their rut, thinking that the job should be easy. Should being the key word; the group finds themselves deep into a mystery that they did not bargain for: a backpacker travels through a wooded area of Paris only leading to her kidnapping by a haunting figure that the Hoax Hunters must investigate.
Now beginning its second “season”, Hoax Hunters is a supernatural comic series developed by Michael Moreci and Steve Seeley. The first run of 13 issues was published by Image Comics, and it has now moved to Heavy Metal for the company’s first individual monthly comic. The series has Donovan and his team using their TV show “Hoax Hunters” as a means to tackle the real supernatural events occurring throughout the world while debunking the myths for their TV audience. The first series at Image before the move (a summary of which you can view here) used various artists to illustrate the comic. Chris Dibari takes on the task from this issue.
Standard character development is evident in Hoax Hunters. It’s clear that the authors wanted to create a group with chemistry. It’s also obvious that their characterization is a standard affair. For instance, Regan, the female lead, takes up the more serious character traits, like the hardliner and the person that wants to see results, while Donovan is the brave hero. It feels as if the authors decided to play it safe with these character archetypes and it makes sense. From a storytelling point, the authors clearly wanted to setup the scene to bring the audience in. It works for the most part.
The interesting setup is that Hoax Hunters slowly builds upon the mystery. It reverses the standard archetype. By having the character introductions knocked out from the story setup (for new readers), they perpetuate the mysterious circumstances that surround their trip to Paris. For readers, it will hook them just enough to want more.
The art style holds up well with a knack for emphasis on the details that matter. For some it comes off a bit simplistic but for many it brings in the importance of facial expressions. This style translates to the background, as there are multiple parts where they opt for getting the point across rather than detailing all aspects. Speaking of detail, a lot of attention seems to go into the coloring as the watercolor effect from the brushes shine through. Quality not quantity plays into the aspect as there are many times the limited colors evoke the scenery more than what a full range of colors would.
In Summary:
Hoax Hunters is off to a decent start. It’s clear the authors are going for story over characters for their outing to bring in readers. That is not a bad thing to do as it will hook the reader and get them to start considering the comic for its story first. The characters may be standard but the story, at least for this arc, is looking to be a bit deeper. If they can push through this story and build up the characters on the way, readers may see more meaning out of this series.
Grade: B
Age Rating:
Released By: Heavy Metal
Release Date: April 1st, 2015
MSRP: $3.50
