THE HARVESTER #1 Review - Dawn Of A New Myth

Written by Brandon Seifert

Drawn by Eric Battle

Colored by Lee Loughridge

The start of The Harvester plays out like a horror movie you’d catch at 2am on WGN - you know, the one they show after Road House finishes. It has that same vibe, starting at some dive bar full of rapscallions that you know will either get sliced up, eaten, or if they are lucky, just die off-screen. True to form, that is pretty much what happens here, as an unkillable (at least at this point) urban myth comes to life and eviscerates a biker gang, and then disappears into the ground. While that setup might not shock anyone, that isn’t the most intriguing part of the character. That honor belongs to the man in grey, who acts as a harbinger of sorts to the Harvester’s appearances. Later in the book, you catch a glimpse of what could be a more direct relationship between the two, as opposed to just a Fringe-like recorder of events or an Uatu “I just watch things” kind of guy.

There was one more element of the story that caught my eye, which served as the tail end of the legend, in which the Harvester takes the souls of sinners back with him to Hell. It raises the stakes from a vigilante who ate some bad cheese and turned into a super-powered badass to something of more supernatural origin, and that happens to be right in my wheelhouse.

Later, we meet what seem to be the main protagonists of the book. First we have Vicki, whose interests are in chronicling people who tell the stories of the Harvester (believing there is no truth to the legend), as well as Justin, a journalist who has a direct interest in the Harvester and the trail it is leaving behind. Without getting too spoilery, it is a tried and true setup for a fun buddy cop thriller, and the target just happens to be an urban legend mythical figure. That's enough to get me intrigued.

The subject matter of this book makes it a difficult tightrope to walk dialog-wise: take yourself too seriously, and everything becomes laughable, but if you don’t take it seriously enough however, then without a joke-a-minute the tale becomes trite and boring. Writer Brandon Seifert toes the line pretty well, as there is just enough humor to break up the talk of legends and myths, yet you still feel legitimately invested in the trip you and the characters are about to embark on. Hopefully it is something that sticks through the rest of the series, and this was certainly a good start.

The one thing that cannot change is the artist. Eric Battle’s pencils along with Lee Loughridge’s colors help bring the story to life, and even when the dialog occasionally dips, the art helps keep the reader engaged until the next interesting tidbit is revealed. There are times though, especially in the opening brawl scenes, that the page seems a bit cluttered. There is so much going on and you feel as if everything was done one size too big. It wasn’t detrimental to the story overall, but during those scenes I did have to look at panels a few times over to make sure I understood the events that were playing out.

Overall, while there were not many surprises so to speak, the potential for a fun mythological thriller has my interest piqued. I’m definitely in for issue 2, but I will need some additional character development to stay for issue 3. That said, I would recommend you give it a try, and you can grab issue 1 at your local comic shop today.