Pick of the Week: REVIVAL by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton

For a book calling itself a “rural noir”, there’s a whole lot of spooky goings-ons in Tim Seeley and Mike Norton’s new series Revival. 

Published by Image Comics, the book’s tone straddles a line somewhere between the Hell on Earth vibe of B.P.R.D. with the small town charm of Fargo. It might be difficult at a first glance to tell what makes the series a noir, defining THAT term in itself being a study in persistent headscratching, but in the first issue readers are treated to a wendigo, the building biblical rapture, and two sisters with their curious backgrounds. There’s a fair amount of genre-blending concepts here (and creatures, most evident in the Zhorse, a half-horse, half-zebra) and on one hand the book is a mystery, and on the other a fantasy-horror. So, what is it exactly?

Out of the gate, it’s a little early to tell. Tim Seeley has done a remarkable job writing a plethora of mysteries to be picked upon and expanded during the series, ranging from the single-mom status of small-town deputy Dana and her sister Martha’s remarkable Revival. Seeley’s enthusiasm is apparent, sometimes bordering on excessive, as he throws every oddity he can muster at the reader in hopes that one sticks. This scattering of strangeness isn’t entirely necessary as there’s more than enough skill in Seeley’s dialogue to hold up the plot. What’s most curious is that beneath the eeriness is the promised exploration of Christian issues (typically made out as hysterical in these end-of-world situations). What does it mean to be trapped in the flesh for those who believe in a heavenly afterlife? 

Concepts for Revival #1 Variant by artist Craig Thompson.

This Christian-connection also serves to link to artist Craig Thompson who does a superbly muted and softly-haunting variant cover to start the series. Thompson, best known for his coming-of-age autobiographical graphic novel Blankets published in 2003, serves as a lovely analog to series artist Mike Norton whose dynamic style rarely rests in profile-shots. Norton’s art is at all-times spooky and falls into unsettling tilts in its angles while displaying some stellar panel-to-panel storytelling. Backgrounds are lovingly detailed and layouts play within the page without becoming clustered or dense.

Nothing good ever comes out of the woods anymore.

Despite the risk of trying too hard to throw out something interesting, Revival does a lot right in its first outing. There’s several good ideas at play, more than enough for Seeley and Norton to run with one in the confidence that their skills are strong enough to hook the reader. Hopefully like the title the pair will continue to come back month after month with more instalments in this creepy countryside series.

Story 4.5/5
Art 5/5