Created by Weston and Nicolas Cage
Writer: Mike Carey
Artist: Dean Ruben Hyrapaiet
Publisher: Virgin Comics
Price: $2.99
Voodoo Child, created by father and son partnership Nicolas and Weston Cage, is an entertaining, thought provoking, and truly spooky comic book. The premise of the story and character combines both classic and modern elements. The writing by Mike Carey is engrossing, terrifying, and noirish and the artist, Dean Hyrapiet is a major comic talent in the making.
The concept is simple but beautiful; a biracial child living in New Orleans in 1860 is murdered and his spirit is met by a voodoo priest who takes the soul as a tool for haunting the land where his blood was spilt. The plot then flashes forwards to 2005 New Orleans post Hurricane Katrina. Mobsters are attempting to commit heinous acts when the ghost child appears causing deaths that provoke a police investigation. Gabriel Moore, the child murdered in 1860, has come to haunt New Orleans, but something is haunting Moore.
First off, the amazing part of the book is the art of Dean Hyrapiet. His lines contain all the information necessary to tell the story with clarity and are filled with detail for both the 19th Century and modern settings. The characters are distinctive and spooky. The coloring on the book is very dark and moody as it should be for a good horror story. Hyrapiet is a new artist but, based on this, he will go on to do great work.
When a comic book is created by a famous actor and his 16 year old son, it would tempting to dismiss, particularly if the concept is basically a ghost story.
However, they have succeed in creating something interesting and relevant which touches on racism, class and the fear of the other. It is also achieves a degree of topicality from the setting of post Katrina New Orleans and the implied magic of the city is amplified by a historical context that gives the series a place in the real world.
The script by Mike Carey, builds up the world, establishes the characters and the relationships to each other clearly. This is some of Mike Carey’s most engaging work to date, as he brings something to the book that is both heartwarming and terrifying. Given his previous work in the horror/supernatural genre there is a danger of having seen or read this before and the book does touch on similar material of his Lucifer, Hellblazer and Crossing Midnight, yet it comes off as a different beast filled with beauty and terror.
Overall Voodoo Child is not a completely original idea, but it is entraining and a good start for a new horror concept. It is also a step forward in the development of Virgin Comics’ brand, not just from a business path, but an artistic one as well.
- Francis Davis a career drunk with a love of comics and movies, lives in and works for the City of Chicago. Confidentiality agreements prevent him from saying exactly what he does, but it is important.