The Lonesome Hunters: The Wolf Child #1 // Review
It’s a wolf that’s as big as a bear. It’s kind of hard to tell WHAT the hell it is as it shoots away from the fires of shotguns in the rural American night. There’s something out there, but it’s difficult to tell what might be found in The Lonesome Hunters: The Wolf Child #1. Writer/artist Tyler Crook opens up a whole new chapter in the life of Howard and Lupe. Crook takes a few different threads of narrative and ties them together with emotionally engaging characterization. It’s a promising opening for Crook’s latest series.
Lupe is grateful to the blackbird. It’s helped them a great deal. Now, Lupe is ready to let it out of its kennel and into the air. Somewhere in the woods, as it flies away, Lupe meets a kid wearing a wolf mask. Lupe and the kid regard each other curiously. Then, there’s a sudden shift, and the kid rushes away. Lupe is going to befriend the kid, but there are going to be complications. The town that Lupe and Howard find themselves in is locked in a war with strange creatures. Meanwhile, there are those within the church who feel as though Howard is a traitor who must be dealt with.
Crook’s story opens up slowly on a small town. The drama-heavy issue is filled with lots of moody, atmospheric silences that feel strikingly resonant without engaging in a whole lot of apparent narrative complexity. Though there are quite a few things going on in the course of the issue, Crook keeps each event distinct and never tries to do too much for a single issue. There’s just enough time for each scene to have its moment and then...drift on to the next scene. It’s a very patient approach to opening up a new series.
The art is very immersive. Crook doesn’t cram the panel with details. He doesn’t have to. What Crook is bringing to the page is small-town America. There’s more than enough to suggest an intimate understanding of the look and feel of cheap motels and wide-open plains that seem to stretch off into the infinite horizon. It all has a kind of peace about it that is remarkably powerful. There's also more than enough foreshadowing of future darkness. It’s far from being a dazzling visual spectacle, but Crook manages an exquisitely immersive and moody atmosphere for the setting of the series.
The reality of what Howard and Lupe are going to be dealing with is quite firmly established in the issue-ending splash page. It’s an ending that you just know is coming based on the events of the opening of the issue, but it packs a hell of an impact once the visual is finally delivered at issue’s end. The overall feel of it is pretty remarkable given the fact that it all moves as slowly and moodily as it does. With the conflict firmly in view, Crook’s challenge is going to be a matter of finding new ways to present a very familiar cryptid.
