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Hoax Hunters #7 Published by Image Comics Written by Michael Moreci & Steve Seeley Illustrated by Axel Medellin $2.99, 32 Pages
When we last left the Hoax Hunters, they were challenged by conspiracy theorists to disprove the legend of the Hauncheyville gnomes. This led to the gruesome death of one of the paranoid Hoax Hunters Hunters (Yes, that's their brilliant name) and the kidnapping of Ken Cadaver. Meanwhile, shady bossman Donavan has tagged along for this trip and it's making the rest of the team uncomfortable. There's something slimy and evil about him and no one knows exactly what it is...until now.
This issue of Hoax Hunters fills in a LOT of information on Ken Cadaver and to some extent, Donavan. If you've been following the series from the beginning like me (which you should have because this is great), this represents a huge payoff. Ken is like a walking, talking zombie, and it turns out he developed a reanimation technology for his wife who was dying of cancer. This paints him as a tragic hero in line with characters like Mr. Freeze, going through a dramatic transformation in an effort to save the love of his life. Ken is forced to relive these memories that he had thought were locked away thanks to the albino king of the gnomes, who is not a gnome at all. He's actually rather tall and thin, sort of like a psychic Voldemort.
The stuff about Ken was great, but Donavan's creep factor is raised to 11. His origin story isn't revealed here. Instead we get a glimpse of the strings he's pulling behind the scenes and they are not pretty. His endgame is not yet known but he's playing fast and loose with the Hoax Hunters and the lives of nearby civilians. One thing is for certain thoug: Regardless of how bad you think your boss is, he doesn't have sharp, pointed teeth and a pet golem ready to do his bidding, so your job is probably pretty good by comparison.
The gnomes are probably the most disturbing things you'll see in a comic this week. These are like the demented children of Shrek and the munchkins from The Wizard of Oz. They're stumpy and powerful. They work as a team, rampaging at your ankles and kneecaps. Artist Axel Medellin brought them to life and I'd almost rather he didn't. They're a far cry from David the Gnome.
Medellin has a great full page spread of Ken when he's reliving some lost memories. His face is at the center, screaming in pain as pieces of his life flash around him including running on a beach with his wife, carrying her over the threshold, and receiving a medal. His anguish is framed by these scenes of happiness in a nice contrast.
Murder continues to be my favorite character in the book even though he doesn't actually say anything outside of the occasional "Kaw." When he's tagged into the action, Jack finds him alone in a hotel room, sitting on the bed with crows spread out amongst the entire place. It's an awesome shot that needs no other explanation. It has an eerie feeling.
During the first arc, the Hoax Hunters had to stop a dimension-hopping cult leader with a huge monster made up of all the creatures it had killed. Now they're fighting a group of ugly gnomes with a psychic albino capable of ripping off a man's head, not to mention an evil from within in the form of Donavan. It's safe to say that the stakes have been raised a bit. Damn, this is a great comic.
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