Death of a Necromancer – Comic Review
Death of a Necromancer is the latest from writer Nick Bryan (FairyFare, The Catalyst) with art from Robert Ahmad (The Catalyst), colours by David Cooper (The Catalyst) and lettering by DC Hopkins (And It Snowed).
Synopsis
When Ralph Foster gets a job as head chef for Deadless Chicken, a new takeaway shop in his lifelong hometown of Tibbin, he doesn’t expect it to demand much of him. Until he dies in an unfortunate accident on the way out of the interview.
Because shop owner Dr Victoria Hedgewood is a necromancer, and the chickens out back aren’t just a source of tasty wings. Before they’re southern-fried, she sacrifices them to her dark god to raise departed locals from the dead–as long as their family and friends can afford her reasonable fee.
Death of a Necromancer Review
Okay, let’s just get this said straight away, Death of A Necromancer is FUN and absolutely my jam. It’s kooky, and a little bit spooky (yes, I’m aware I’m starting to sound the “The Addams Family” theme song) but at the same time really colourful. There’s a definite Tim Burton sensibility to DoaN that I really enjoyed. It also seems like it would make a brilliant animated series. This feels like it occupies a similar niche to Nick’s FairyFare, that of Supernatural creatures doing mundane jobs in our world…with a sinister twist. Because no, it’s not all colourful fun and games in Tibbin, there’s a definite dark side which is revealed when the story twists in the final third.
Chapter one ends on a brilliant cliff hanger which really neatly sets up what I am sure is a much bigger story to come.
This is not the first time the members of this team have worked together. In various combinations they have produced The Catalyst and And It Snowed (both of which I LOVE), with Death of a Necromancer their most ambitious project yet, a 114 page graphic novel in 4 chapters. It’s clear that Nick has a really great working relationship with this team of collaborators, and I’m excited to see what the remaining chapters of this story have in store. I know Robert Ahmad is capable of some really fantastically evocative work, especially in terms of horror (for example The Devil In Disguise) with a lot of subtle detail, and that’s on show here too.
Death of a Necromancer Kickstarter.
Death of a Necromancer is funding on Kickstarter right now and, as of the time of writing, is sitting at £3,085 of a £5,000 target with 15 days to go. Chapter one is complete (and is what this review is based on) with the other 3 being released to backers as they are completed. You can snap up all 4 chapters in digital form for just a tenner, and for the grand sum of £20 you’ll get all four chapters in PDF form as soon as they are complete, plus the full physical book (due end of 2022).
There are also prints, commissions and original art from Rob available (at the moment). If the sound of a Tim Burton-esque goth/pop comic about a Necromancer in a small English Village appeals to you then I would highly recommend getting on board with this one ASAP.
