Written by: Ben Templesmith
Art by: Ben Templesmith
Publisher: IDW
This week sees the return of The Squidder, written, drawn, coloured, lettered by Ben Templesmith. The Squidder’s history began on Kickstarter when it was funded in 2013 and is now being serialised by IDW in a four issue mini-series.
The story takes place in a post apocalyptic alien world and is the tale of the last Squidder Legion solider. The book has had Lovecraft comparisons thrown on it, and it is really hard to shake off once some of the imagery is revealed, and the story progresses.
The art in the book isn’t going to be to everyone’s taste, and those that have grown up on the House style of the big two may be taken aback. However, that is hardly an excuse in 2014. Once you drop your vision of what you expect from a comic the art is lovely and fits the story to perfection. It is truly one man’s creation brought to life on page.
Admittedly, if you are just jumping into this book without any prior knowledge to the story then it can at times become a confusing journey. Unlike issue one of the series, where the words are thin on the ground at the start, and the story is told in the art which is perfect as this is after all a comic. This issues is word heavy, which is at times at the books own downfall as it becomes a distraction to the art which is really the selling point of this book. One other small criticism would be the choice of colours for some of the lettering which makes it a hard read at times.
The story is now at it’s midway book, and the journey of the Squidder Legion story is continuing to unfold and a relatively quick pace. The book is worth pursuing for the art work alone, even if you are struggling with the story that is being told as not many books like this fall into our hands.
