SPEAKING OF THAT HOWARD GUY…

He has a new book out.

BLACK HARVEST #1
Written and Drawn by Josh Howard
Published by Devil’s Due

As Howard puts it himself in an accompanying essay, he hasn’t stretched too far away from what brought him to prominence to begin with: cute girls and gratuitous violence. And why should he? When you have a winning formula, you don’t piss it away pointlessly.

This time around, we have a bit of a UFO/conspiracy tale. A blogger/reporter decides to make his next story the town of Jericho, Texas, where each fall strange lights appear in the sky for six nights and then vanish. Their origins are a mystery, but when our reporter shows up, the mystery deepens. As he drives into town, he hits a young girl crossing the road. The odd part? She’s been missing and presumed dead for three years. Plus, she has the word “repent” carved into her abdomen.

Considered a suspect, the reporter finds himself embroiled in a conspiracy that he cannot even begin to imagine. And the deaths are just beginning to pile up…

It took me an entire miniseries to warm up to DEAD @17, but Howard does a much smoother job of making a world the reader can get into with this new effort. The only moment that falls completely flat is the treatment of the reporter by the local cops; in this modern age, he’d be cleared with two phone calls and a lot less attitude, so I just wasn’t buying it. But the rest of the local population feels less stereotypical and forced, giving the book a genial, easy feeling as you read it.

Howard’s art looks sharp, as you’d expect by now, and the book’s got a cover that will grab you by the lapels and start shaking. It’s also more ambitious in scope and size, set for six issues rather than the four that were standard for DEAD. A creator’s next step is always fascinating to watch; so far, it looks like Howard is on solid footing.

/Mason