The Revival #3

Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Mike Norton

Revival opens with a scene that excited me like few have in comics in the last few years.  The scene has the series's main character, Dana, visiting her sister Martha in her dorm room at university.  On the walls of Martha's room are posters advertising Doomtree's No Kings, and Dessa's Castor, The Twin.  I am a huge Doomtree (the hip-hop collective that is home to the immensely talented Dessa, among others) fan, but usually think of them as 'my band', despite them selling out shows every time they play here in Toronto, and being huge in the Midwest.  It makes sense that they'd be big in a school in Wisconsin, since they are based in Minnesota themselves.  I don't know who among the Revival crew is a fan, if Tim Seeley specified this in his script, or if Mike Norton drew them in of his own accord, but it made my day.

The good news continues, because after that, there was a whole great comic to read and enjoy!  Revival is a very cool 'rural noir' comic, involving a region of Wisconsin where the dead have been coming back to life, and are clearly showing signs of being emotionally disturbed.  It's creepy and strange, as we see people reacting to their loved ones behaving in ways that are radially different from normal.

We're three issues in, and Tim Seeley is still introducing new elements to the story.  We get a plotline involving an older Hmong woman who thinks she understands what has been going on, and wants to give the exclusive to a young Hmong reporter.  We also see young Martha continuing to act bizarrely, as her sister is put back onto the police revivalist task force, newly paired with a doctor from the CDC.

There's a lot going on that Seeley is not explaining yet (such as the appearances by an alien-looking creature in the woods), and that is why I keep coming back.  This is an interesting series with some incredible Mike Norton art, and it's worth checking out.