Writers: Andrew Dabb & Daniel Loflin
Artist: Diego Olmos
Color: Marta Martinez
I bought my comics on Wednesday like normal this week, but I couldn’t bring myself to review anything. I always tell people reviews are a blast to write as long as the comic is either a train wreck or something that’s truly enjoyable. In terms of quality this week’s comics were as middle of the road as most candidates for public office before they get the job. That left me with two TPB options that I bought in the past week: Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet or Supernatural: Beginnings End. TV/Movie adaptations or “Inspired by” stories generally are not of the highest quality. I decided to review the one that rose above the typcial.
The television series Supernatural started its sixth season on the CW last week. The network has really been aiming for a young female audience since they rose out of the ashes of the WB and UPN. This is a show that appears to fit that mold but that’s what happens when you judge a book by its cover. Comic fans should know that disappointment so often reigns supreme if you expect the cover art to accurately portray what’s inside both in content and quality. If you looked at Supernatural from afar it appears to be a show about two pretty boys driving their car. What you get is one of the most compelling character studies on television with some genuinely scary moments. Most horror stories are a failure because the characters are cardboard cutouts you’d rather see dead. The characterizations are where Supernatural has succeeded as an engrossing must-watch and this comic fits in because it adds to the world and these people’s place in it.
The series centers on Sam and Dean Winchester who are hunters of anything supernatural. They got into the family business because of their father’s obsession (which rubbed off on them) to find the demon that killed his wife. The series has since moved on from that story point, but this particular mini series explores aspects that led to the start of the television show. This is actually the third mini series produced by DC. The first two centered more on Dad and Sam and Dean as youngsters, while this one puts all three together very close to their television incarnations. Beginnings End seems much more necessary than the previous volumes, which is why it’s a must read if you watch the show.
The show has explored issues like following in a father’s footsteps, family tradition, and the idea of inevitability or the ability to change your future. Each of the comic’s six chapters build on these plotlines and feel like an episode that has resolutions but moves the grander story of the piece along, Dabb and Loflin have almost built a series of six lost episodes contained in the trade. Staples of the series such as possessed objects, deals with demons, hallucinations or dreams that become real, and doorways to hell are balanced with the character building family dynamics and the Winchesters’ interactions with a variety of other hunters that are also trying to make their way through the world.
Diego Olmos has a practiced hand when it comes to rendering the pieces of a world overrun by the supernatural. Disembodied, but still talking, heads…no worries. Legions of the undead….check. How about terrifying demons that killed yo mama…. got that covered too. Olmos also captures the quieter character moments with flair as well. Horror needs a je ne sais quoi to build suspense in the comic world or the whole story falls to pieces. Well, let me tell you, this story is built like an adamantium tank from the art on up.
I’m surprised when I still read that people have just discovered Supernatural. It’s been on a long time now, but has been missed by so many because of the network it airs on. It’s my favorite show on television and this is a damn fine comic adaptation!
