Something is wrong in the deep forests of Broke Tree Valley. Something deadly. Something mammoth. The legends speak of something larger than human comprehension… A monstrous phantom that disappears for decades at a time. Now, it’s back, and things are about to go Very Bad if four people-Olivia, Jess, Kokoro, and Mason, scientists who have come to the small city of Kasbro to investigate a bizarre series of seismic activities in this heavily forested valley-can’t put the Mammoth to rest. One real problem with this is…Olivia’s dead. The Mammoth #1 is a hell of a start that hits you in unexpected ways.
I’m not much of a fan of the horror genre. There’s some that I enjoy but overall, it’s not one I go to for entertainment. So, it always excites me when I find something in that space that I do like. The Mammoth #1 falls into that category.
Written by Paul Tobin, The Mammoth #1 is interesting in that it subverts things in some ways. It focuses on four members who are brought to an area to study strange phenomena. As presented, they come off as the ghost hunters, trying to figure out the cause of everything in some mystical way. But, it turns out, they’re the skeptics. That’s part of the charm and what stands out about the story Tobin crafts. It sucks you in fully expecting these four to be the ones who claim ghosts, when they’re the ones that think those stories are crazy.
But, beyond that, Tobin gives us a story of loss. Though the story starts with four, a freak accident leads to the untimely death of one of them which then leads to the funeral, a police investigation, and then reminiscing over their friend. Tobin takes us through some grief showing the survivors as human and allowing us to connect with them through their empathy and grief. We get stories shared that grounds each of them as very normal people, not the supernatural obsessed we expect going into the story.
The art by Arjuna Susini is good. With color by Pippa Bowland and lettering by Charles Pritchett, there’s a nice mix of teasing what’s going on, delivering some gore, but mostly focusing on the emotion of it all. Susini and the team do a really good job of showing the reactions of the survivors as they process what has happened. The comic also does an excellent job of giving just enough gore and scares to not distract and makes the reader question what the hell has happened.
From someone who doesn’t like horror, The Mammoth #1 is a hell of a start. It has a Blair Witch vibe about it, not just with the story (which deals with the woods) but in how it’s presented and what’s teased. It delivers some emotion and loss and then hits you at the end in unexpected ways. It has me excited to come back for more and see what happens next.
Story: Paul Tobin Art: Arjuna Susini
Color: Pippa Bowland Letterer: Charles Pritchett
Story: 9.0 Art: 7.8 Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy
Mad Cave Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
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