The last of DC’s zero issues arrived this past week, ending an entirely uneventful and unexciting era for the New 52. Some of these zero issues were good, some were bad, which camp does Voodoo fall into? Well find out after the jump, with this Major Spoilers review!
VOODOO #0
Writer: Joshua Williamson
Artist: Sami Basri
Cover: Sami Basri
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $2.99
Previously in Voodoo: Priscilla Kitaen, a human-daemonite hybrid (daemonites being an alien race left over from the Wildstorm universe), is a spy! A spy for the daemonites, meant to infiltrate humanity and gather information on Earth’s metahuman population. She found out she was actually a clone of the original Kitaen and starts to act against the Daemonites until they offered her a raise in position, putting her in charge of all Daemonite clones on Earth.
GOOD JUJU WITH YOUR VOODOO
Voodoo #0 hits ever point a zero issue should. There is a compelling origin story of the original Priscilla Kitaen waking up in a vat in an alien spaceship, only find out she has been imbued with the DNA of a daemonite and now has super powers. It actually delivers what feels like a complete story, something most of the previous zero issues have had a problem with. Without spoiling anything, this tale contains twists and turns that left the “bad guys” winning on all accounts, and kept me thoroughly engaged and interested the entire time. It also, somehow, compelled me to take a look at Grifter. Since Voodoo is cancelled, the last few pages of the zero issue shift over to Grifter’s perspective, with a guest appearance by Voodoo, and end with a “to be continued in the pages of Grifter.” So I might actually pick up Grifter, this issue was just that interesting.
ALMOST MAGIC
The art in this issue is really good. Sami Basri is obviously skilled at what he does. His style and coloring choice gives an almost “soft” feeling to everything. This invokes a mystical sense to the story, making it feel more surreal and grander than other super hero comics. Its enjoyable in contrast to a lot of modern comics’ “shiny” style that makes everything look artificial or like a toy. Another great strength of Basri’s art is that he can actually draw different people. Every human has a different face, and different body type. They were not just the same copy-pasted stock bodies other artists (*cough* Jim Lee *cough*) use for EVERY super powered male and female in the known universe. Unfortunately the daemonites are just boring, generic space aliens, something that is not the fault of Basri directly because he was drawing something someone else came up with years ago. Still, I would love to see Basri design his own aliens wholesale.
BOTTOM LINE: TOO BAD ITS BEEN CANCELLED
Unfortunately, Voodoo has already been cancelled. Its a shame, the zero issue was really good and actually convinced me to go back and try reading Voodoo from the beginning. It even made me want to read Grifter just so I can see where Voodoo’s arc goes. I highly recommend picking this zero issue up.
DID YOU READ THIS ISSUE? RATE IT!
Reader Rating
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1 Comment
Yeah. I have to agree. I just tried the zero issue after reading issue #1 in 2011 and being uninterested, but this made me want to read more. I’m definitely now more interested following the character and this writer going forward.