Kickstarter has a treasure trove of books. One of my purchases from last year is a great little series from Kurt Zauer. He has been working diligently on his series Spectress and Sabanion, and I thought for this special column, we review the first four issues. So without further ado..
The Book
Spectress and Sabanion
Written by Kurt Zauer
Illustrated by Topper Helmers
Colors by Wesley Wong
Lettered by Es Kay
Publisher: Cagey Comics
I’ve covered issue one of Spectress and Sabanion in the past, so I’ll be brief here. Spectress and Sabanion are a ghost and a demon tied together by the past. Spectress was Aneski, a servant to Cleopatra. Sabanion was Sabanion a demon. These two have a long and ancient history, and they’ve been locked away for a long time. Aneski has been planning the escape for a long time, and thanks to a friend, finally has a chance.
Sabanion, tied to her agrees to help. Issue one they make the first move.
Issue two the escape intensifies. The moon crew try to pull off all the stops to contain them. Here you discover that just because they are supernatural, the duo aren’t impervious to harm. Failing to possess one of the crew harms Aneski in a way she doesn’t fully understand. It’s a chase all the way through the issue as they try to stay one step ahead of the army chasing them.
Zauer introduces Cheska here. Cheska is the friend that is aiding them for her own reasons. What they are will be interesting to read on about, but the friendship between Aneski and Cheska is one of the most fascinating things in the book.
Not as fascinating as the relationship between Sabanion and Spectress. They are old enemies, yet know each other better than anyone else. There’s respect, and maybe, just maybe a little fondness in there.
Issue three concludes their escape, and adds a little character to Cheska, as she spars with a foreign exchange student. Beyond that, the duo’s escape seems to have a bunch of consequences. At least one other demon is aware of the duo escaping. A demon that can possess multiple people. One and legion and with a horrifying bloodlust. The blood shade awaits and seems to want the same things they do.
Which is what this part is all about. For a long time, there was no purpose to Spectress, but somehow she found it, which is why she resists the call to the grave to perform a task for Cleopatra. It has something to do with the artifacts in a Chicago museum. More is to come on this, but there seems to be a convergence there.
Issue four is my favorite of the series so far, as Spectress tells Cheska of her final days in Egypt. We learned what happened to her, to Cleopatra, and to the rest. Vampires are involved, and a brutal, tragic end. We conclude issue four with a bit of information about the past and get an idea of where issue five will propel the crew forward.
Kurt Zauer seems to find confidence with each new issue. There’s a tentativeness in issue one as he opens to tell the story, and then as each page is turned, you can sense his comfort. He knows the characters, and the story, and is having fun expanding the world of the past, and creating some fun and engaging elements in the present day of the story being told. The pace is deliberate, and the world is a bit terrifying. It’s part of the fun.
Topper Helmers is having the time of his life with these pages. There is so much being drawn from military bases to ancient weapons, evil noncorporeal demons, and ghosts. There is a deliberate pace and range in the story that Helmers deserves a ton of credit for. Wesley Wong delivers the perfect mood coloring in each part of the story. He can do dark and violent perfectly, and do ancient Egypt in the right tones and colors that give the book both a historical ancient feel at times, and feels like something you’d read from Bram Stoker in the next instant. Es Kay is having a blast with the lettering. Going back and forth between all the possession, magic, demons, and other dialogue and description in the story, it would be easy to get lost. Kay juggles each character and scene masterfully, giving each voice the distinction it needs to create the right tone throughout.
Spectress and Sabanion is a fun horror book with some interesting tracts into ancient history. The book grows with confidence in each issue from the team, and I can’t think of one of the nicer surprises I read last year. Well done team.
The Business
I’m ghostwriting now. Which is wonderful. I’m writing science fiction concepts on a regular basis, and am spending this week talking about some of my favorite literary concepts with all of the things I love in science fiction and fantasy. Sometimes being creative is awesome.
I have a series launching on March 2nd I’m putting together. It’s called Healing Hands and is hosted by Shelniel Bostic. I produced and directed the series. Right this minute, four episodes have been put together. Season one will be twelve episodes plus a cool bonus. It’s been a blast to put this together. If you are interested in my services involving either you can check them out here. Next week I’ll be adding a little preview to this series in particular.
And if that wasn’t enough, later this week I’ll be interviewing Rik himself on my podcast. It was a great conversation we had about the business of comics and we got to talk about the hobby we love and the books we love. What’s not to love about that? I’m using the word love a lot. Hmm…
Next time I’ll be reviewing one of my favorite books from last year as issue two of Snow Paw is now out. You’ll get that next time.
Stay inspired out there.
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