Image Comics
(W) Wes Craig (A) Toby Cypress and Niko Guardia (L) Jared K. Fletcher
The Gravediggers Union opens with a chilling prologue, with supernatural creatures ruling over early humans. Fast-forward to present day, and relations have improved, but barely. The Gravediggers Union is in charge of keeping the creatures at bay. Sightings and attacks of vampires, zombies, and ghost storms have gotten too frequent, and protagonist Cole is choosing to acquire information by crossing enemy lines.
Readers probably wouldn’t be able to tell this is Wes Craig’s first published project as a lone writer, allowing others illustrate his script (minus the beautiful prologue and cover). Craig took classic horror monsters and made them his own. There are lethal tornadoes comprised of ghosts, vampires emerging of the Congo, and zombies coming out of other zombies! If the originality of the story doesn’t catch readers’ attention, the art will. With a loose, gritty inking style and light overlays over dark colors, Toby Cypress and Niko Guardia add their flair to this tale of panic and adventure. Along with the bold lettering style of Fletcher complimenting the art of the action panels, we have ourselves a horror comic dream team.
.jpg?w=750&ssl=1)
Craig’s talent is also evident by making Cole, Hayley, and Ortiz characters that readers will care about. They’re all different and relatable, even Cole who shows tough love by being aggressive, but constructive. As the issue progresses, readers gain knowledge of Cole’s personal life and learn how he’s so wound up, and why it’s so important to him to take his gravedigger job more seriously than those around him.
Keep the terror rolling even after Halloween with this eerie, and altogether thrilling, comic. Cole knows much more than he is letting on, so I’m eager to watch the gravediggers embark on a perilous mission. With the visual talent of Toby Cypress and Niko Guardia to exude a classic horror feel, Wes Craig joins the ranks of great storytellers in his writing debut.