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Revolvers #1
- Writer:
- John Zuur Platten
- Artist:
- Christian DiBari
- Letterer:
- Troy Peteri
- Cover Artist:
- Christian DiBari
- Publisher:
- Image Comics
- Price:
- $3.99
- Release Date:
- 2022-10-05
- Colorist:
- Simon Gough
Combining crime drama, sci-fi, and horror might sound like a smorgasbord of genres. However, Top Cow and EP1T0ME Studios' Revolvers #1 -- by writer John Zuur Platten, artist Christian DiBari, colorist Simon Gough, and letterer Troy Peteri -- is cocked, locked, and ready to unload with an entirely original and highly unexpected story. It's safe to say that no one has read a comic book quite like this one before.
Hampton Wales is a hardened detective from Detroit. He has seen it all, but he keeps trying to do the right thing -- even if he doesn't know what that is in his own personal life. Also, he perishes within the opening pages of Revolvers #1. The first issue -- pardon the pun -- revolves around how Hampton reached this point, including a pivotal case featuring a criminal named La Piton, aka The Python. Yet, Hampton's journey might not be as simple and straightforward as it initially appears.
Zuur Platten pulls the ultimate bait-and-switch in Revolvers #1. The first two-thirds of the book plays out like a tension-filled crime drama akin to Training Day. Weathered and beaten-down Detroit cops, who aren't exactly the paragons of virtue themselves, are all that's standing between a flicker of hope and the total collapse of the city. Zuur Platten writes these scenes with flair and gravitas, inserting the anticipated beats and noirish atmosphere of crime fiction. Suddenly, the book power slides out of its lane into the sci-fi horror domain, changing the entire trajectory of the story. All the expectations and preconceived notions go out the window, as this becomes a whole new type of story.
In the press release for Revolvers, DiBari described the book as a merger of Michael Mann's crime-noir films and Clive Barker's Hellraiser. This comparison rings true when looking at the artwork, as these influences infuse every panel and page with a clash of styles that shouldn't work, yet they do. This book is moody, violent, and unafraid to explore darker territories that would put a smile on the face of the usually stoic Cenobites.
Gough's choice of colors plays an equally important role in setting the dreary tone here. This isn't a happy story bursting with bright rainbows and sunshine through the windows. It's gloomy and gritty. Grime and debris cover the walls and ooze through every crevice to create a grim, anxiety-inducing atmosphere. Peteri's lettering utilizes a variety of approaches to show off the different types of gunfire and the intensity of the blasts.
The shifting of genres in Revolvers #1's third act could be seen as a gamble, but the risk pays off in a huge way. While the story is already intriguing, to begin with, opening a variety of options for the narrative to go in the crime drama field, the leap to sci-fi horror takes everything to the next level. It's almost cruel how the creative team leaves the reader on such a major cliffhanger at the end of the issue. Fans won't be able to put this thrilling first issue down.