Broken Frontier

The second Ex Occultus one shot finds investigators Wakefield and Hollander hired to retrieve the magical Seal of Solomon.

Billed as a cross between Indiana Jones, H.P. Lovecraft, and The X-Files, Ex Occultus delivers once again on the adventure, and this issue provides vast improvement in the area of characterization. In this second print adventure, Robert Russell writes a great deal more dialogue, giving us a clearer portrayal of the personalities of the protagonists than in the previous chapter. He brings a moral dimension to Wakefield which is refreshing, and a sarcastic bent to Hollander which makes him the favorite character.

The story takes place in 19th century Bulgaria, where a local gentleman named Marko solicits the services of Wakefield and Hollander. He employs them to track down the legendary Seal of Solomon, a ring with reputed magical properties once owned by the Biblical king himself. Marko claims to be a descendant of Solomon himself and thus has family claim to the artifact. He provides the investigators with the suspected current owner of the ring, an antiquarian named Grigor Zhelov. We are treated to a fair bit of action and magical adventure as Wakefield and Hollander confront Zhelov.

James Emmett's art on this is well done. This is no easy assignment as I am certain reference photos for 19th century Sofia are relatively sparse, but Emmett pulls it off convincingly. The storytelling is clear and interesting, even though much of the story is talking heads, so to speak. He excels at drawing birds, in a delightful sequence. The only thing I found distracting was the lettering. It is clearly computer lettered and, given the historical subject matter and eerie feel of the story, the perfect ellipses and placement of the balloons ruined the mood a little.

Overall, Ex Occultus reads like the comics of a bygone era, where plot and interesting ideas carry the day. It’s refreshing to read comics without pretensions of mature themes or strained and forced character issues. This is the stuff of adventure serials, improving with each offering. With two issues under their belt and a third on the way, I am glad Saint James is continuing the serial. It doesn't require any prior knowledge and each of the issues can be read on their own. Just jump in and enjoy the fun. And for those clamoring for more, Saint James has several Ex Occultus short stories available for your reading pleasure online.