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REVIEW: Feral #1
4.78/5.0 Stars
Rating if the Book Were a Movie: PG-13
Creative Team:
Writer: Tony Fleecs
Artists: Trish Forstner and Tone Rodriguez
Colors: Brad Simpson
Cougar Magic: Sara Richard
Cover: Trish Forstner and Tony Fleecs
Editor: Dennis Culver
Design: Lauren Herda and Erika Schnatz
Publisher: Image Comics
Ratings:
Story: 4.9 Stars
Artwork: 5.0 Stars
Cover Artwork: 4.2 Stars
Dialogue: 4.9 Stars
Mechanics: 4.8 Stars
Editing: 4.9 Stars
About the Book:
“Feral” is the story of Elsie, Lord, and Patch. These cats that were picked up by animal control. The animal control van our feline friends are in is in an accident when the driver swerves to miss a rabid fox. The van goes through a guardrail and flips as it goes down the embankment. It comes to rest upside down with the animals’ cages open. Our feline friends are lost in a wilderness with many rabid creatures. They must find a way home without being scratched or bitten by the infected animals. Otherwise, they will become FERAL.
Reader’s Notes:
I first became familiar with the work of Tony Fleecs and Trish Forstner when their collaboration, “Stray Dogs”, came out in February of 2021. I thoroughly enjoyed the first issue. In fact, that title rapidly propelled from being a curiosity to being the first book to read on New Comic Book Day.
I wasn’t the only person who felt this way about “Stray Dogs”. The title was a hit with everyone. The first issue ended up having four printings in the original run. The only other comics I can think of with more printings in the original run are “Superman” #75 and “The Killing Joke”. It was in very rare air.
I was very excited when I learned that most of the creative team from “Stray Dogs” would be working together on “Feral”. I have not been this excited about a new title that didn’t involve Transformers or G.I. Joe in quite some time. I had a copy added to my pull lists at two of my local comic book stores to make sure I wouldn’t miss out on this one.
There was a lot of anticipation for “Feral” #1 to be released. Fans everywhere were eager to see if the creative team could once again capture lightning in a bottle. In a word, absolutely!
The way we get hints along the way about the outbreak of rabies in the area is wonderful. It makes for a smooth transition for the reader. We go from Elsie’s focus on finding Lord so that they can go home to seeing that they will be fortunate to survive five minutes in this mess.
It takes a few pages to realize that Lord is another cat. Once you have that lightbulb moment you are off to the races. The tempo makes this a very fast read. There are no wasted panels.
The artwork on the interior pages truly brings it all together. After seeing how well Fleecs, Forstner, and Rodriguez gelled together on “Stray Dogs” I can’t say that I was surprised. Every panel feels like it could be an animation cel from a children’s animated movie. Picture “The Aristcats” meeting “The Night of the Living Dead”. It is a dark children’s animated movie; but it is perfect for setting the tone.
A lot of amazing covers were done for the debut issue of “Feral”. In fact, there are 26 variant covers out there. I went with the standard cover to keep myself from trying to collect them all. I’ve already acquired one of the variants, so you can see how well that panned out.
While many of the variant covers are homages to some of the great horror films we’ve seen over the years, this cover sticks with the story. I like that. A good cover should simultaneously create intrigue while giving people a hint about what to expect when we dive into the story. Fleecs and Forstner check both of those boxes with this cover.
“Feral” has an amazing premise that could actually happen, which is uncommon in comics. When you couple that with incredible artwork and a fun cast of characters you have the makings of a hit. This geek on a budget urges you to check out “Feral” right away.
Seriously. This book was released today. The two local comic book stores I went to have already sold out of all of the copies that weren’t in people’s pulls. Order your copy quickly!
