Salem: Queen of Thorns #0 (of 5) (Boom Studios – Morgan / Walsh / Torres) – Colonial America. Salem. For mankind’s greatest sin against God, they were born – the Coven of Thirteen. Thirteen witches granted elemental powers, each one derived from an aspect of Christ’s crucifixion. One man stands against them: Elias Hooke. A new hero in the tradition of Robert E. Howard’s Solomon Kane or Clint Eastwood’s The Man with No Name from the screenwriter of Celluar and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift!
Talk about facing your past head-on, Dr. Phil has nothing Elias Hooke. In Salem, Hooke, former inquisitor and “arm” for corrupt early church leaders, has now learned of how twisted his former masters are and have now broken free of their control. He spends his days trying to balance revenge, redeeming himself for the atrocities he has committed and staying true to the Christian faith. To call this a very dark book, might be a slight understatement.
Wilfredo Torred does an outstanding job with the art, with Hooke ending up looking like an amalgamation of “Just a Pilgrim” and “Solomon Kane”. Given the details of the plot-line, (the story has to balance Colonial church corruption / evil elemental witches and Reformed Christian theology / healing magic) Salem: Queen of Thorns has the potential to offend both Christian and Pagan alike and has to walk a tight line. After reading issue #0, I think Chris Morgan (screenwriter – Swat, Cellular) and Kevin Walsh (writer for National Lampoon) is up for it! If dark horroresque adventure is something on your comic palette, you want to put Salem: Queen of Thorns in your pullbox!
Grade: B
