Greyson’s world feels like it’s collapsing all around him, it could just be in his head, or it could actually be the end of the world. Your Major Spoilers review for Behold, Behemoth #1 from BOOM! Studios awaits!

BEHOLD, BEHEMOTH #1

Writer: Tate Brombal
Artist: Nick Robles
Letterer: Andworld Designs
Editor: Ramiro Portnoy
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $4.99
Release Date: November 2nd, 2022

Previously in Behold, Behemoth: Greyson is a product from the foster system who has been suffering from nightmares and he’s just buried the closest thing he had to a brother.

I DON’T THINK IT’S THE MEDICATION

Behold, Behemoth #1 opens at Grey’s friend Liam’s funeral. Things then shift into a flashback of the two as children dreaming of the lives they’ll have once they get out of the house they’re in when they’re interrupted by a person who means them harm. Later on in the present Grey tries to get his medication changed before he goes to visit a foster home to check up on some of the kids. While there he begins to suffer from migraines and eventually blacks out after meeting a child named Wren. Later that night he wakes up in a bath to then find out a gruesome murder had taken place at the foster home. He returns there where he finds Wren hiding in a cabinet. Once again he begins to get a migraine and then sees flashes of some lone figure fighting hordes of what look like zombies in a hellscape. He once again wakes up in the bath. He’s convinced he’s done something terrible and goes to the police, but what he finds there is not what he expects.

A POIGNANT STORY UNDERMINED BY BRUTALITY

Behold, Behemoth #1 doesn’t waste any time before it starts to get into some heavy subject matter, particularly child abuse. It’s not exactly forging new paths in how it depicts the abuse and the consequences, but it remains impactful nonetheless. Now what is unique are the quick panels showing some other sort of land and the lone warrior. It’s just vague enough to be intriguing but has enough substance to feel connected to the ongoing story as both a continuation of chronological events and as symbolism. Where things start to get a little rough is when the murder scenes are introduced. They’re violent scenes with blood splattered across the walls and floors, with mangled bodies. In these moments the book loses its grasp of reality which makes the cuts to the strange world so effective. Rather than adding any kind of grit or shock to the issue, it comes off as cheesy, which can be fun but doesn’t really work in this context, especially due to the serious subject matter.

SEAMLESSLY SHIFTING IN STYLE

Behold, Behemoth #1 has a story setup that presents a challenge for any artist. Having to shift between a dreary and washed-out Louisiana, to an intensely colored landscape that is both apocalyptic and surreal. But, Nick Robles handles this well by managing to make the two settings feel distinct from each other, but doesn’t go so far as to make it seem like scenes from two separate books slapped together.

BOTTOM LINE: A STRONG OPENER THAT COULD USE JUST A BIT OF RESTRAINT

Behold, Behemoth #1 brings a splash of originality to a somewhat basic story by tying it to an end-of-the-world story, adding depth to both. There’s a lot to enjoy here and it shows promise as a series. It goes a bit far though with some of the violence which is in contrast to the more grounded approach one-half of the book takes. 3 out of 5 stars.

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