A Review of The Infected from Hound Comics
After doing the review on Salvagers, I was lucky enough to obtain a copy of another Hound Comic, The Infected. I had issues buying the Salvagers comic from Houndcomics.com and ended up purchasing it on Amazon, but Houndcomics.com has restored its online store. So if you like my review and want to check out The Infected or other titles from Hound, Hound has their store up again and most of their titles on Amazon.
Of course the first thing that sticks out when looking at any comic book is the cover. At first glance I saw this cover done by Dave Mims and thought to myself that it looked fairly simple to draw, but nothing could further from the truth. There are sharp lines defining the facial features and bodies of the three main characters and the three monsters type things that make up the cover. As I read on I realized how intricate the drawings really are. The art makes me think of something you would see as a doodle but as I examined them I started to see how the seemingly unnecessary lines actually add to the feel and are almost essential to the makeup of the art. In some cases the lines are hard and thick, in others loose and passive. Overall the art is pretty fantastic and outside of the conventional norm of most comics. I think that is the reason it threw me off a little. Even though the style caught me off guard at first, I found myself liking it more and more as I read on.
One of my pet peeves with comics is the huge world that just is, with no real explanation of how it came about, but the writer Chris Hartmann addressed that immediately with the first page being six dialog boxes explaining the world he is setting up. Hartmann explains that in May of 2020 an infection spread through a place called Tower City causing the super human population to turn to flesh eating monsters. With only two dialog boxes, Hartmann was able to pull me into the story. I commend the idea because nowadays it’s really hard to spin a super hero or super powered story without treading in someone else’s territory.
After Hartmann explains how the normal humans have quarantined the city he picks things up with a "28 Days Later" type scenario. The main character wakes up to a barren and ravished world around him. During his aimless walking, trying to compute what was going on, he finally stumbled into a road where he is spotted by three soldiers in a Humvee. Clearly the sight of other living things got the guy excited, but the excitement was short, they decided he was a threat and started to shoot. The soldiers chase him down an alley and get ready to finish him when he is saved by a big burley looking guy. As I look at the panel of the man that saved the main character I realize that he will be the no nonsense muscles of the story as he stands holding a smoking cigar and his pistol.
As the two characters evaluate each other the big guy explains the situation to the main character as he turns to leave. The main character reveals his name is Jacob while he tags along with his big guy and gets the full history of the downfall of the city. The two guys end up making their way through a building into a safe house and pass through dead bodies that make Jacob throw up. I like the way Hartmann paints the picture of the world and sets up the two main characters dynamic together.
As the two guys make it to a jail cell, the only safe place to sleep, the big guy hands Jacob a gun and explains how to kill them. Aim for the heart and the head! Of course, the head and the heart, where else is there to aim when taking down a bad guy or monster. At this point in the story I was a bit curious about the supers and how their powers work as they’re infected. Mr. Hartmann must have known what I was thinking because the big guy explains to Jacob that they lose their powers after infection so all he has to do is stay away from them and shoot straight to stay alive.
Mr. Mims art draws me into the story with the way he lays out the chill scene as they lie down for the night and continue to talk. Jacob sits with his hands behind his head relaxing while the big guy smokes with his eyes closed. I like this page because I can feel the characters need to relax and process the events, especially Jacob, but also the fact that it sets up the stage for the big guy to open up. As they lie there the big guy reveals that his name is John Winters and people call him Freedom. Jacob asks why he didn’t run and wondered if he was a super but he explains that he isn’t a super and he isn’t the type to run. In this page I get a good feel for Freedom and what he is all about, the hardest guy in the room but he still has a heart and cares about people.
Jacob snaps awake and asks Freedom if he heard what he heard. At this point Jacob already heard something earlier but now the voice or noise got to him enough to get him paranoid. Jacob hears more noises and rouses Freedom to his feet to go check it out. The final panel on the page is a head-on of the two men holding their guns up and walking towards the noises that Jacob heard. I really love the panel and the way Mims sets up the two men. I feel like Freedom has always been solid and BA standing tall and mean mugging while he smokes, but what I like the most is the transformation of Jacob as a gets harder and harder alongside Freedom.
Jacob was right, he did hear something. He heard a girl named Chloe. They turned a corner to see her standing there. Jacob recognizes her immediately and she recognizes him as well. No sooner than Jacob and Chloe recognize each other a huge monster turns up behind the two guys. The huge monster picks Freedom up and tosses him across the room knocking him out. Jacob and Chloe get backed into a corner where Jacob tries his best to shield her from the monster. At this point Jacob is hearing voices still and their calling to him and he feels like they want to help them. As they stand in the corner waiting for the giant monster to attack another monster comes to their rescue, but from the looks of the panels it’s possible that Jacob is controlling the monster because as the monster reaches through the belly of the bigger monster Jacob is reaching out towards it as if they were going to high five. The strain of whatever was happening knocks Jacob out, but Freedom wakes up in time to get rid of the remaining monster.
Hartmann and Mims leave us with Freedom telling Chloe to get him up because they can’t stick around and wait for more monsters. Freedom says, “And I don’t feel like dying tonight.” Pretty epic send off.
The feel of the book and the flow seems right to me and Mr. Hartmann does a great job of setting up the characters. Jacob grabs me right away with the "28 Days Later" scene of waking up to chaos and death all around. Freedom is compelling because any story is best served with a really hardcore guy leading the charge against the enemy or threat. I like how Chloe is introduced towards the end and the way Hartmann sets up Jacob hearing voices, I feel like it leaves plenty to look forward to for the next issue. Hartmann and Mims have a good concept and story that they collaborate well in telling. I will certainly be checking out the next issue. If you liked the review I suggest you check it out as well!
Here are a few links for your purchasing pleasures, Get it straight from Hound Comics or on Amazon.
Happy reading everyone!
r-Verse event has officially begun and I couldn't be more thrilled. With the return of Spider-Man Noir in issue one, Marvel has set us up for a heck of a ride through "every Spider-Man ever." While I can't say this was the alternate Spidey I was looking forward to the most, I thought issue one was a lot of fun. The alternate version of Mysterio was clever and worked as a good one-off antagonist.