REVIEW: Frank Frazetta’s Mothman #1

3.75/5.0 Stars
Rating if the Book Were a Movie: R

Creative Team:

Writer: Tim Hedrick
Pencils: Andrea Mutti
Inks: Gigi Baldassini
Artist: Luis Guaragna
Colors: Valerio Alloro and Oscar Carreno
Letters: Jacob Bascle
Cover: Andrea Mutti, Gigi Baldassini, and Valerio Alloro
Editor: Denton J. Tipton, R.G. Llarena, and Holly Interlandi
Publisher: Opus

Ratings:

Story: 3.5 Stars
Artwork: 3.7 Stars
Cover Artwork: 3.8 Stars
Dialogue: 3.8 Stars
Mechanics: 4.0 Stars
Editing: 3.7 Stars 

About the Book:

Frank Frazetta’s Mothman takes us to the Southern United States. Two families, the Lincolns and the Ferrells, have a longstanding feud. When a spacecraft crashes on the Ferrells’ land it creates all kinds of turmoil. The Ferrells think that the Lincoln clan was cooking meth on their property and got the chemistry wrong. A member of the Lincolns goes to investigate. When he is spotted on the property by the Ferrell’s drone they respond by  sending a grenade in his direction. The passenger of the spacecraft bears witness to this and wonders what kind of world they crashed on and, more importantly, how they can get off of it.

Reader’s Notes:

This book made it onto my radar when I came across it at the comic book store in Pike Place Market during a vacation last month. I was familiar with the work of some of the creators and was happy to pick it up. It doesn’t disappoint.

Frank Frazetta’s Mothman #1 is very easy to fall into. We hit the ground running and don’t slow down. The dialogue is entertaining. I enjoyed Ferrell’s commentary on the elephant gun.

I would have liked more insight into what caused the feud between the two families. Is it the equivalent of rival gangs and a turf war? Did something happen in a bar one night? It’s not necessarily relevant to the story; but it would help paint a more complete picture.

I liked how this cover was done. The coloring on flames from the wreckage draws the eye to the book. Then we see the Mothman and it piques curiosity. This is exactly what you want on the first issue of a new series.

The artwork on the interior pages meshes perfectly with the story. This is difficult to do with a collaboration of a writer and a single artist. Making it work with multiple artists and/or colorists takes something special. This creative team made it happen.

As a geek on a budget I believe that Frank Frazetta’s Mothman #1 is worth the price of admission. It’s a redneck version of the Salamancas vs. Gus Fring with a few twists that make this journey fun change of pace from a lot of its contemporaries.