REVIEW: The Seasons Have Teeth #1

3.72/5.0 Stars
Rating if the Book Were a Movie: PG-13

Creative Team:

Writer: Dan Waters
Artist: Sebastian Cabrol 
Colors: Dan Jackson
Letters: Nate Piekos 
Cover: Duncan Fegredo
Editor: Shantel LaRoque
Publisher: Boom! Studios 

Ratings:

Story: 3.4 Stars
Artwork: 4.1 Stars
Cover Artwork: 4.4 Stars
Dialogue: 3.3 Stars
Mechanics: 3.5 Stars
Editing: 3.6 Stars 

About the Book:

Each season has a creature associated with it that leaves nothing but death and destruction in its wake. Hence the title, The Seasons Have Teeth. Our main character is a retired conflict photographer named Andrew Bates. He’s lost the love of his life, Cindy. Until Spring arrived he was merely existing, trapped in a world of memories and thoughts of what could have been. Now that Spring has come he has a purpose: Get the best possible photograph of this creature and get it published.

Reader’s Notes:

Aside from the Firefly universe, I usually don’t find myself covering titles from Boom! Studios. Once in a while I’ll see something that catches my eye. Enter: The Seasons Have Teeth #1. I saw it on the shelves in my local comic book store and instantly added it to the stack.

I appreciated how we got a glimpse of Andrew’s psyche during his trip down memory lane. The way he narrates about how he ended up in his line of work struck a chord with me. Years ago after a Comic-Con I recall telling my friends that I would get a job reading and writing about comics and occasionally interviewing creators. I never thought that would happen, yet here we are.

“Spring” reminded me of the creatures in Inhumanoids. The key difference being that it appears to be much more sinister. We don’t get to learn much about this creature’s motivations; but I’m sure that will be explored in future issues.

This cover instantly caught my attention. It’s vivid. It’s phenomenally detailed. I especially liked the contrast in colors between Andrew being done in a gray scale and Spring’s shades of green. It’s a fitting metaphor. Spring’s green brings life, even if it’s in the form of uninhibited spontaneous plant growth everywhere. Andrew’s gray shows us how he had hoped to fade away.

The artwork on the interior pages gives this cover a run for its money. We get terrific lines coupled with incredible coloring. As brilliant as the panels inside the gazebo are, I have to say I couldn’t get over the first time we saw Spring in all its glory.

As a geek on a budget I strongly recommend reading The Seasons Have Teeth. This story gives us something we’ve never seen before while sprinkling in some action and incredible character development. I’m very curious to see where this story will take us next.