Written by: Colin Lorimer
Art by: Joana Lafuente
Publisher: Image
Not to trivialize war crimes, but it’s sort of a war crime that WeTheNerdy has yet to review The Hunt. I mean, our website isn’t at war with anyone, and it’s technically not a…you know what, nevermind. This is a stupid joke. Sorry. Let’s start over. If you listen to Comics Dash, you know that I absolutely love The Hunt. Like, with all my shriveled, blackened heart.
So it means a great deal (to me) when I say that issue #3 is Lorimer’s best yet.
One of the reasons I’ve never really reviewed this comic, aside from time constraints, is that I’m not sure how to talk about it. The Hunt is just good. Full stop. I don’t really know how to explain that though; there’s this ephemeral greatness to it that you just need to dive into. It’s like how Wayward is awesome from start to finish, only this takes place in Ireland and has a bit more swearing.
I guess let’s start with confidence. Like Wayward and The Autumnlands, this comic just jumps into its world and characters and expects you to keep up. It’s all about telling a large, sprawling story with its own lore, world, magic system, and characters, and it knows that doing that requires time, space, and a light touch.
It’s that last one that’s important.
There’s no exposition here. There’s no hand holding. Orla is continuing her journey, which has not exactly been established yet mind you, and that journey just happens to involve some demonic-looking changelings, her kidnapped brother, her almost-dead grandmother, and bucketloads of pagan magic.
Also, there are cops who think she’s a bit off her rocker.
Also, she threatens a monster with a knife by saying a wicked-awesome spell and threatening to break a pencil. Orla’s a bit of a badass.
I just…this comic is awesome, okay? The characters rule, the world it’s creating is amazing, and I never know where it’s going to go next. What more do you want?
Speaking of more you might want, the artwork here is absolutely breathtaking. I love the style going on here; I love the colors and the facial expressions and the monsters and the magic! It’s so stupid pretty! Like, even if Lorimer weren’t killing it with his awesome writing, this would so be a comic worth buying simply because it’s gorgeous.
Okay. This is a terrible review. I don’t know how to make it good though, because reading The Hunt just puts me into a happy mood where I want to gush over it and not care that what I have to say is half-baked nonsense.
So the real question is: To collect as trades or to collect as single issues?
