The Savage Brothers #1 of 3

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The Savage Brothers #1 of 3
By Hervé St.Louis
Aug 16, 2006 - 7:35

Boom! Studios
Writer(s): Andrew Cosby, Johanna Stokes
Penciller(s): Rafael Albuquerque
Cover Artist(s): Rafael Albuquerque, Dave Johnson

Otis and Dale Savage are brothers living in the South of the united States, making a quick buck by destroying zombies in order to allow them to go to heaven. Of course families of the deceased pay top dollar for this privilege. As every zombie look alike, it’s a good paying job for the Savage brothers. Just shoot one of them! When the brothers get a tough assignment from a man in black, everything turns to worse. Can the brothers make it out of Atlanta, before and enjoy their money before the Apocalypse finally destroys everything?

When I saw the ads for this comic book, I wasn’t sold on the idea. I wondered why anyone would bother reading about a bunch of red necks. Well, I was wrong. It felt like reading early issues of Preacher before it got popular and commercial. Except here, we have the Duke brothers, only a bit stupider. The entire premise of this story is so absurd, it’s funny. The sight of the teenager tending the gas station calmly while zombies probably lurk nearby is disturbing but set the tone for this series. It doesn’t take itself seriously and while Dale thinks he’s the brain of this operation, Otis, the cool strong silent type may turn out to be the real hero! My only complaint is that the story ended too soon and I have to wait another month to see what happens next.

The artwork in this series is crisp and the initial promotional pictures did not render it justice. Albuquerque draws zombies and people very well. I also like the facial expressions he weaves as they reveal the true nature of the characters. His storytelling is dynamic and uses lots of touches to move the story along.

9/10