"Slow Pokes #1" Comic Review

Sloths are adorable furry creatures who move so very slowly. What if they were fast though? Slow Pokes asks that question and answers it in terrifying fashion. These once slow-moving animals turn into blood-thirsty monsters with their increased speed, terrorizing a local lab / amusement park.

Slow Pokes starts with this simple idea and very quickly spirals into an absolute bloodbath. Seriously, the third page is filled with gore. That's how fast we're moving here. There's a Jurassic Park vibe in this book, not only with the location that has both rides and a lab filled with science experiments, but with the idea that these folks were more focused on if they could do this and not if they should.

A high school filed trip happens to be going on at the same time, providing ample cannon fodder for the new fast sloths to tear through. Writer Steve Urena provides just enough character development to make us care for a few of them and hope others get torn to shreds.

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There is some cheesy dialogue, particularly with the karate-obsessed dork trying to muster up the courage to ask out the girl of his dreams, but that's less of a focus here. If anything, that just serves to connect the dots between the sloth attacks.

While this can be a pretty funny comic, artist Juan Romera plants Slow Pokes firmly in the horror space. The sloths look downright diabolical as they not only tear through everyone they encounter, but seem to taunt the survivors / future victims. There's one shot of a sloth spinning a severed head around a claw like a basketball, blood spewing out of the neck hole. It's friggin' bonkers.

The kills get more and more inventive as the story goes on. My personal favorites are when the sloth drowns a guy in his own vomit or the beheading on the Gravitron ride. It's an absolute gorefest. Romera's colors bring out the dark, ominous tones of all this bloodshed contrasted against the bright shades of this park that's usually full of fun and joy.

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Needless to say, emotions run high as these students fight back against the murderous sloths. Letterer Sean Rinehart captures that intensity with some bold font choices. You understand when someone is screaming in terror based on how large their words become. These are fitting choices for the way the story unfolds.

Slow Pokes is pure gory fun in comic book form. It starts with a simple and silly premise and takes it through a blood-soaked journey of humor and horror. You will not read anything else like this on the stands today.