Hunter's Moon / Salvador

Title: Hunter's Moon / Salvador
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Writer: James L. White, Mark Polish, Michael Polish, Sebastian Jones
Art: Dalibor Talajic, Steph Stamb
Colorist: Juanmar
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Editor: Randy Buccini
Cover: Dalibor Talajic, Tomislav Tikulin

Flip book. This is a Free Comic Book Day giveaway, but there's no date on it. My best guess is 2006.

First story is Salvador by screenwriters Mark and Michael Polish and Sebastian Jones, with art by Steph Stamb. It got off to a very shaky start with a text introduction that was grammatically shaky at best and bordering on incoherent. Given that, I was pleased to see that the comic itself was wordless. Much better! Stamb's art is beautiful and the story's imagery is an interesting interpretation of the Icarus myth. I wonder if it's going to stay wordless. That might be the best approach.

Flip the book over and you've got Hunter's Moon, which begins with a flashback to the lead character deer hunting as a boy with his father. Flash forward to the present where the boy who once enjoyed spending time outdoors with his dad is now a high-powered business executive with a son of his own, one who's not too keen on spending a week of father-son bonding in the woods. The characters here are interesting, but I get the impression from the cover that there is much more to the plot than was revealed in this segment. This was clearly taken from the first issue and cut off at the best stopping point the editors could manage. The writing on this, by James L. White who wrote the screenplay for the Ray Charles biopic Ray, is quite good in terms of dialogue and characterization. It will be interesting to see how things progress as more action is introduced.

There is some sloppy editing here, but both stories show promise.

Rating: 6.5/10