The Crow: Hark the Herald #1

IDW

Writer: Tim Seeley

Artist: Meredith Laxton

The crow is one of those comic series’ where most comic fans I meet don’t realise it’s a series. Originally written in the ’90s by James O’Barr as a way of dealing with the loss of his girlfriend the crow is the story of a young man returning from the grave and who decides to take bloody vengeance on those who murdered him and his fiancée. It’s a cliched story but O’Barr used it to explore the emotions he felt after his loss and made those feelings as much, if not more of a focus than the revenge plot. That emotion was the key to its success. Since then numerous companies have repeatedly tried to re-capture the success of that original graphic novel. The latest offering from IDW is a one-shot Christmas special called “Hark the herald”. Here’s my take.

Hark the herald follows a similar idea to most of the crow stories. A daughter and her father have been murdered by some killers who meet once a year in a cabin in the woods of Wisconsin and now the girl is back for revenge. It’s simple enough of a concept but the story is poorly told. I know the murderers are a group of professional killers and that they have a yearly get-together. The only reason I know this though is because I read the preview summary. Outside of the last couple of pages, there isn’t much within the story that tells you this about the villains.

You also don’t get much information on how the girl has been revived. We gain some insight into her life and death through flashbacks but there’s no mention of how she was brought back. All of this leaves any readers who’re new to the series out in the cold. There isn’t much emotional insight into the characters either so its hard to connect to them.  Readers familiar with the series might enjoy this book as a one-off action piece but it lacks the emotional depth of the O’Barr original.

You may be wondering why I’m comparing this one-shot to the original graphic novel. Well, first of all, it’s part of a long-running series. The Crow name is being used as a selling point so it’s a natural comparison. The other reason is that the variant cover for this book ignores the new female character and showcases the original crow. A new or lapsed reader may make the mistake of thinking this one-shot is about him due to this.

I’ve been pretty negative in my review so far so let’s talk about some of the positives. The art in this book is decent. It’s not amazing but it does the job. Laxton draws the characters in a somewhat cartoonish style which is serviceable although it can conflict with some of the violent scenes throughout the issue. I also like the design of the new crow. Most characters using the name tried to copy the make-up design used by the original and it hasn’t always worked. This new crow has cracked and damaged skin across her face that’s a unique design yet vaguely resembles the old design. It’s a nice little tribute but it doesn’t feel forced in any way.

Overall this new book isn’t great. If you’re a hardcore fan of the crow series then it’s passable and might be worth a look as long as you don’t mind it just being a basic action story. Some readers of the series connect more with the emotional themes each story presents and they aren’t really here. It’s sad because the protagonist shows some promise. I think if IDW had made this a mini-series instead of a one-shot then this book might’ve felt less rushed and may have even flourished. As it is though I’m not a fan.