Severed #7

Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Art by Attila Futaki

I feel like I was a little harsh when I wrote about the sixth issue of this mini-series last month, but I did feel that the writers had pushed the limits of credulity a little too far.  This final issue of the series is much better balanced though, and the story ended in a satisfying fashion.

Severed has been about Jack Brakeman, a young boy who set out across Depression-era America looking for his father, who had given him up for adoption as an infant.  Along the way, he came across a cannibal serial killer, posing a a record player salesman.  This guy got rid of Jack's traveling companion, a young girl dressing as a boy, and lured Jack into a particular home with the intent of eating him.

This issue begins with Jack in the guy's custody, and things look pretty bleak.  Help does arrive, in the form of someone I didn't expect to see in this comic again, but ultimately, it is the very quality in Jack that has made him such a tantalizing victim, his hope, that leads him to act on his own behalf.

Severed is a standard horror story in many ways, but it is nicely grounded in the era in which it is set.  Snyder and Tuft made Jack a very likeable character, and gave the reader many reasons to keep coming back, even when the conventions of the genre, and their reliance upon coincidence and the characters' naivety made things a little hard to swallow.  I will definitely be keeping my eye out for more work by the talented Attila Futaki, whose art really made this comic work.

Severed #6

Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Art by Attila Futaki

I've been a supporter of this series from the beginning, despite the fact that it can, at times, strain credibility to the breaking point.  I've thought that writers Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft had a little more leeway in their depiction of a couple of kids in Depression-era America as being a little naive because, let's face it, they wouldn't have been raised on a steady diet of slasher films and/or overprotective parenting. 

This issue, which ends with a pretty big reveal, however, hinges on either a series of coincidences or a level of planning that would be almost impossible to have work in the way that it has.  And this has tainted my enjoyment of the book.

I love Image Comics because it gives creators a great deal of freedom to innovate, but sometimes the lack of a strong editor can be a bit of a problem.  Were this a Vertigo-edited book, the wrinkles would have been ironed out, making the comic much stronger.  Because the truth is, Snyder and Tuft have a good story to tell, and Futaki is an interesting artist.

Here's hoping that the ending can redeem things next month.

Severed #5

Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Art by Attila Futaki

Jack and the creepy imposter salesman cannibal guy are on the road together, with Jack thinking that his friend Sam has abandoned him and stolen his wallet.  This gives Mr. Fisher (not his real name) a number of opportunities to teach Jack about what life on the road is like, as he takes him with him, Jack thinks, to record his music and then help him find his father.  We readers are pretty sure Fisher plans to eat Jack, but we don't know when, so every creepy looking roadside house or dive bar looks like it's going to be the place.  This adds a lot of tension to the book.

And really, the book is tense enough.  Fisher expounds at length on how great life on the road is, but quickly we realise that this is the same road the traveling circus traveled in Carnivale.  To drive home that point, Snyder and Tuft give Attila Futaki the opportunity to show how twisted things are out there in a manner that reminds me of Eduardo Risso's penchant for including strange little silent stories on-panel in books like 100 Bullets.

As this issue opens, we see read Fisher's speech about how on the road, if you want something, you take it.  These words are shown over a sequence that has a man with a knife running across a field to where another man appears to be holding down a naked woman.  This looks like a violent rape scene, but what we find out on the next page is that it is instead a birthing.  It's a cool visual trick, which helps remind the reader that things aren't as they appear in this book, which is something Jack takes the entire issue to catch on to. 

I've been very impressed with this comic since it started.  At times, the characters behave in a very naive fashion, but when one remembers the time period, and its relative lack of sophistication around things like serial killers, it's a little easier to suspend disbelief.

With two issues remaining, I'm looking forward to seeing how Jack is going to get himself out of this situation.  I'm also hoping that we haven't seen the last of Sam, as she was a pretty cool character.

Severed #4

Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Art by Attila Futaki

Severed continues to be an excellent Depression-era coming of age horror comic, with a strong focus on character.  This issue hinges on an event that I don't really understand though, and that caused me to be thrown out of the story completely.

To begin with the positive, I've really enjoyed reading about the friendship between Jack and Sam.  They've become a good team, looking out for one another on the road, and finding in the other a loyal companion.  They have a pretty big fight this issue, over the entrance of Alan Fisher, who claims to be a Victrola salesman, although we readers know he's a predatory cannibal.

This leads to my problems with this issue.  Previously, Sam had stolen Fisher's business card, which we saw him take from the real Alan Fisher a couple of issues back.  She calls the number, and speaks to someone at RCA Victor, who suggests he meet her at a diner in a remote setting.  In typical horror comic fashion, she agrees, and doesn't seem to find anything strange about a completely abandoned restaurant in the middle of nowhere, where she discovers that the RCA guy she spoke to is really.... (I'm sure you can guess).

This doesn't work.  If he altered the phone number so it would be his own, why bother using the card in the first place?  Also, it's the Depression and we've established that the guy is living in a rooming house.  He wouldn't have his own phone, so the fact that he answered when Sam called doesn't make sense.  I understand that something like this would need to happen to continue the plot, but it just doesn't work for me.

I'll look past this though, as the rest of the comic works very well.

Severed #3

Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Art by Attila Futaki

Scott Snyder has, over the last two years, become a 'big name' comics writer, first receiving accolades for himself on American Vampire, and then taking over DC's Detective Comics and making it the best its been in years.  During the DC Relaunch last month, he had the second best-selling (and one of the most positively-received) titles in the whole line with Batman.  But it's Severed people should really be reading.  It's a shame too, because I'm sure the comic will be lucky to sell one twentieth of Batman #1, despite being vastly superior.

Severed is about a twelve-year-old boy named Jack who has run away from his adoptive mother to try to find his father, a traveling musician, somewhere in Depression-era America.  Currently he's in Chicago, having just missed his father, and is making money to continue his journey by busking.  He is being watched over by Sam, a girl about his age who has disguised her gender for protection on the road.  The pair have caught the attention of a mysterious serial killer, who we know has already cannibalized a boy about their age.

In this issue, the killer approaches them, in the guise of a salesman for RCA Victor.  He attempts to befriend them, inviting them back to his accommodations for beer and duck.  He seems like a good guy to Jack, but Sam is more astute, and knows something is up.

There's a very suspenseful scene involving a bear trap, as the older guy tries to see if he can drive a wedge into their newly-formed friendship.  Snyder and Tuft layer on the suspense once they are in the killer's home, and with each page, I expected something seriously bad to happen.  Futaki's art helps add to this feeling by playing things very straightforward and ordinary - there is no use of shadow and light to try to make things seem scarier than they are, and that's why the book works so well.

I'm very excited to see the next issue.  Much more than I am for Batman #2...

Severed #2

Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Art by Attila Futaki

This mini-series is striking all the right notes for me.  It's a historical drama/serial killer comic with very strong character work.  The main character is Jack, a twelve year old who learned a year previously that he was adopted, and that his father is a traveling musician.  He began to correspond with him, and has now left home to try to find him.  In the first issue, Jack ran afoul of a corrupt railroad bull, and when this issue opens, he wants to go back and retrieve his possessions.

Jack is hanging out with a new friend - Sam, who helps him get his stuff, find lodging when they get to Chicago, and travel to the theatre where his father is supposed to be performing.  I don't know yet why Sam is so knowledgeable and capable for such a young kid, but I look forward to finding out more of Sam's story as the comic progresses.

Were this all there was to the comic, I would still be as interested in it, but running parallel to Sam's story is that of the Salesman, a cannibalistic serial killer.  This character is pretty creepy, and I'm sure we're going to learn more about him in the future.

This comic is very nicely put together, with great art by Futaki.  It strikes a nice balance between historical detail and ease of storytelling.  I love period pieces, so this book is right up my alley.

Severed #1

Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Art by Attila Futaki

There are two things about this book that predisposed me towards liking it before I even glanced through its pages.  First, Scott Snyder seems to be able to do no wrong when it comes to comics, as I am a huge fan of his work on American Vampire and Detective Comics.  Secondly, although having nothing to do with  the First World War on a direct basis, this book is set during a favourite time period of mine.

So far, the comic seems to be the story of two boys.  One, Jack Garron, is narrating the story from the 1950s, where he is a one-armed grandfather.  We see twelve-year-old Jack run away from home and jump the rails, an attempt to go find his father.  He doesn't have a good go of it, as he runs into a corrupt railroad cop, and lands himself in what looks like even worse danger.

We meet the other boy, Frederick, in an orphanage outside of Chicago.  He is taken in by a Mr. Porter, who is going to give him an apprenticeship for General Electric.  There's something very creepy about Mr. Porter, and not just because he speaks ill of Mary Pickford, Canada's favourite silent movie starlet.  Porter makes reference to having shark teeth, and it starts to become clear that it's not a metaphor.

This book is pretty creepy, as Snyder and Tuft develop a general sense of dread that permeates every page.  This book can't be easily classified yet, and that's one thing that I like about it.  Attila Futaki's art is pretty nice.  It's a little like the Avatar house style, but would also fit well in an issue of Jonah Hex.

Image comics are on fire lately, and this series looks to be another example.