Savage Things is published by DC Comics under their Vertigo imprint It is written by Justin Jordan with art by IIbrahim Moustafa.
Review by Rachel Freeman
Savage Things is the story of Cain and Abel. Biblical, I’m sure you feel like you already know where this is going. But you don’t, oh, you have no idea. This Cain and Abel were once regular kids, except they weren’t actually regular. Them and a handful of others, were taken from their homes and put into a special program known as “Black Forest”. A program to train a new kind of weapon, a program made of not just killers, but sociopaths. So the government found kids like Cain and Abel who were already on their way towards becoming future serial killers and made them into something “better”. Until the program was abolished and they tried to kill the monsters they created. Many of these killers are after the people who wronged them, what exactly their purpose is, we still aren’t sure, but Abel is the only man who can stop them from wreaking havoc.
Alright, so there’s the plot for you, on to the issue!
*WARNING: FROM HERE ON, THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ ISSUE #1*
We are greeted in this issue by a gruesome scene. A classroom with dead children, the room and the halls covered in blood. Then a doctor stitching up Cain, while the head of Black Forest lectures Abel on his inability to finish Cain off. Cut to modern day…
So, at the end of issue 1, we saw Abel get “captured” by police. In accordance, we start off this issue with Abel in the classic police interrogation room, being questioned by clearly super badass cop, Kira. Who is aware of Abel’s skills, but doesn’t show the slightest bit of fear, despite being alone with him in this small room. Here is where Abel reveals to us more about what happened to project Black Forest, the things they had to do, and the betrayal. Meanwhile, outside of the police station, Cain’s crew is still causing all sorts of chaos and leaving a trail of dead bodies behind them. Is Abel, once a member of this same organization, going to help Kira take them down? Does he have his own hidden agenda in mind? Because he certainly isn’t doing this because it’s the right thing to do.
Pros: A lot of action in this issue. A lot of gruesome, gory deaths too. Right up my alley! Also, Kira takes up the role as leading female character and I already love her. She is fearless and she doesn’t have to be a sociopath to do so! She’s also shown to be intelligent and great at deductive reasoning. She definitely earned her spot as a special agent. I really hope we learn more about her. I’m a sucker for a strong female character, so kudos to Justin Jordan. Keep it up! As with the first issue, Ibrahim Moustafa delivers amazing artwork. There’s a lot of disturbing stuff that happens in this issue, a severed head with “NO” carved on it, people get impaled, someone literally bites another guy’s throat out. It’s intense. It’s gory. But it isn’t gross. There was never a time where I felt it was too detailed or went too far. Jordan and Moustafa have a really good balance going with the horror but not getting way too out of hand. That could change though, and I wouldn’t be opposed to it, honestly.
Cons: I felt like Abel had some overly cliche lines. Like….I had some moments where I thought, “Really, Abel? That was so lame”. And he’s such a badass, I think he deserved some cooler line. They can be one-liners, they just need to be more original sounding, I guess. It took me out of the scene a little bit.
OVERALL SCORE: 9 / 10
We’re only on issue #2 and I’m already getting sucked in to this series. Make sure you pick up a copy at your local comic store!
Happy reading!
