Monday, October 20, 2014

FEATURE REVIEW IDW'S THE SQUIDDER #1 BY TEMPLESMITH

The Squidder

Publisher: IDW
Writer/Artist: Ben Templesmith
Release Date: 7/16/2014, ongoing series

H.P. Lovecraft meets aliens, meets genetics? An interesting mix.

Squidder takes place in the future, after giant alien Squids have conquered the earth. Enough time has passed that a life and religion has developed around the The Squids, to the point where their invasion and the fight against them is believed by many to be a rebellion.

A Squidder is a type of genetically engineered solider designed to fight and kill the Squids. Our lead character is one of the last of The Squidders, perhaps the last. Old enough to know that the ‘rebellion’ was actually Earth fighting the Squid invasion. He should know, he was there and fought the Squids.

He is now a man looking for a way to die, but not believing he could ever find one. A mercenary, he is hired by a local ‘boss’ to retrieve his property – A Squid priestess whom he bought from another party. This disgusts the Squidder, who believes the priestesses are traitors to humanity.

He only agrees after the ‘boss’ threatens to dig up his wife and family.

Along the way, the priestess tells the Squidder a number of things, including a prophecy that may or may not have to do with him. Of course, he doesn’t believe her.
Templesmith’s artwork is top notch as usual. His writing is solid as well, but make no mistake; the real draw of this title is The Squidder himself. Nothing else matter other than his character, his journey. He is a nicely rendered character and suitably overwhelms the title.

My only drawback from these first two issues is a familiar feel. Genetically altered humans created to fight an alien race, and one is pre-destined from a prophecy? I’ve seen this before in a number of anime shows.

Rating: 6

Ace Masters

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