Darkest Rout is our latest request from truly independent creators. This occult comic brings out some of the genre’s best by grounding it all with emotional moments. Plus the artwork really shows how powerful a comic’s presentation can be.
You Can’t Hide In A Darkest Rout
The writer Antwon Barnes brings in his personal experience in dealing with grief and trauma. Through lead character Nate Castlehart, readers experience how loss in a busy world can isolate people. With the death of his older brother, Nate can barely walk two steps without falling all over himself. It already cost him his job and his painting is barely holding together. Not that he can paint with an arm in a cast. So when Nate gets a magic ring that should be good… right?
Not at all. Aside from stumbling into the occult world, it looks like whatever’s happening in it will use that grief to consume him. Like it did one of the knights.
This is the kind of tension that keeps readers attention long after reading it! The suspense mounts with each passing page as some dark sinister force preys on people’s vulnerable private thoughts.
Hopefully the fallen angel and occultist Nate meets can help him get through it all.
Heavy Artistic Atmosphere
Kip Henderson’s simple designs allow readers to experience the thrills as they unfold. Like when a wizard tries to get his medallion to him before an unseen monster can kill him. As the talisman slides on the floor, readers feel the wizard’s despair as it doesn’t pass through two panels fast enough.
There are even times like when Nate holds onto a panel. Is the ring already giving him great
power? Not when he’s tossed through a door and the panel on the next page makes it look like he was thrown all the way over there. I wonder if Omar Montoya helped storyboard some of these.
Bea McCormick meanwhile colors the pages with the look of a painting, especially with small red flourishes. They’re practically a way of showing the reader the intensity getting thicker as they surround the setting like a fog.
The Darkest Rout From The Dull
What we’ve got here is a work of passion in trying times. Experiencing the characters troubles makes them feel like each event matters more than what they’re carrying. Plus the atmospheric pressure from each of the artists makes this comic all the more memorable. Final score 9/10.
Thanks for coming to the end and as always remember to look between the panels.