Drums #1

Written by El Torres
Art by Abe Hernando and Kwaichang Kraneo

I've only had a passing interest in some of the Caribbean and South American religions that have been easily demonized in the modern media - Voodoo, Santeria, and others, but have recognized their effectiveness in horror stories for a while.  I probably would have passed on this book altogether except that the cover to this issue is so good (at first glance, I thought it may have been done by Paul Pope).  Also, El Torres has written a few good comics, notably The Veil, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

This comic opens with a straight-edge FBI agent being called in to investigate a bizarre crime scene.  66 adherents of Santeria and its sister religions are found dead, but the cause of death is not apparent.  It almost seems as if they all just died instantly, and the investigation is not going very far.  Our supercop partners with a cultural anthropologist and seeks out an expert on Santeria, but not before experiencing a strange vision.

The story is intriguing, but I'm not sure if I'll be back for the next issue.  I find the art a little stiff, and the sheer volume of strange terms and explanations that I find hard to follow are kind of turning me off.  At the same time, this book has some serious potential - I'll give this issue another read, and make up my mind later.