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On the eve of Winter Solstice, reading Mark Verheiden and Aaron Douglas‘ supernatural themed true-crime comic book Borealis just feels right. The former wrote many Aliens vs Predator comics I loved collecting, and the latter starred in the Battlestar Galactica reboot. Also, this work features the artistic stylings of Cliff Richards and colourist Guy Major. In what this team crafted for issue #1 certainly gave me the chills as they reveal various types of dangers plaguing Alaska.
The love I have for this state’s many strange mysteries isn’t limited. There are other legends too! And not all of them concern Bigfoot or UFOs. And as for what the Taqriaqsuit and Piinilaak are, I’ll just have to keep on reading. All I know is that they hail from Inuit folklore–and perhaps more!
And as for what I admire isis in how well Alaska State Trooper Silaluk “Sil” Osha is doing her job. When she returns to her hometown to find that it’s been overrun by criminals, what she discovers can’t be handled alone. However, there’s more going on than meets the eye (literally), and what got me hooked is the bad guys know they’re being haunted; and based on what I’ve read in this issue, they don’t know how to fight it!
Whatever they truly are, I love how Richards and Major have brought them to life! There’s a strange mottled texture to them. Unlike smoke, which can be easy to draw, the attention to detail in giving these burning green points of light that burnt edges of a paper look is rather cool. Also, the desaturated colours give this drawn work a feel of a cinematic film.
As Sil has to deal with the locals who chide her for being away, there’s other stuff going on too. Since becoming the law, she’s risen up the ranks. And now her superiors want her to go home to investigate some rather unsettling deaths.
And this comic hints that she’s been keeping something within her restrained, and to wonder if she’ll hulk out got me invested. It’s not like that certain Marvel hero, but perhaps something much worse! I’m betting that whatever force she’s keeping contained will make a difference in resolving the gang war that’s going on. I doubt there’s just one local legend being explored in this tale, and as for what issue #2 will entail, I’ll just have to wait to find out!
4 Stars out of 5