Broken Frontier

The origin of both the Queen of Thorns and Elias Hooke are revealed as these two square off again with two innocents caught in the middle!

Writers Chris Morgan and Kevin Walsh rev up and get started with their fantasy/alternative history series this month. As this tale of vengeance and justice moves forward how does it fare?

Picking up where the zero issue left off, Hooke banishes the avatar of the Queen of Thorns but is still left with the naïve Deacon Wood and the bitter Hannah Foster. When Hannah heals the Deacon’s burns Hooke turns of the woman, accusing her of being in league with the Queen! Hannah, however, exposes Hooke’s private pain and the dark man tells them how he came to be… as well as how the Queen of Thorns was born.

This issue is an interesting combination of strengths and weaknesses. One strength is that, in this age of decompressed storytelling, it is quite rare to get (presumably) nearly the full origin of both the protagonist and the antagonist out of the way first thing. It leads one to wonder where the story is going to go from here since most miniseries take their time and draw out the origins of the characters. Another strength is the origin of the Queen herself. It is unique and unusual and includes some slam-bang visuals (more on that later). A third strength is that Morgan and Walsh make Hooke a bit unlikeable. This is not a hero you get behind and root for right away. Despite his heroic turn in the zero issue, here he is rather a jerk and that is refreshing. Not quite an anti-hero but not a "Paul Pureheart" either, Hooke is very much a fallen human.

As for weaknesses, though, for one the idea of a class of warrior religious (here called "Confessors") is starting to get a little old in modern media. For another, the idea of the "Confessors" just does not sit right with the Puritan Church – a sect that was focused on stripping ceremony and ostentatiousness from the church as well as tossing out "miraculous" elements. Finally, there seem to be some leaps in logic and gaps in the storytelling that hopefully will be filled in later. For example, the introduction of Hooke’s family is abrupt and perfunctory and they are nothing more than ciphers or plot devices ergo it is hard to feel any sympathy for Hooke’s plight.

The art, provided by Wilfredo Torres is equally strong and weak by turns. Some of Torres’ sequences are wonderfully expressive and he keeps his figures believably human while letting their characteristics shine through. The Deacon’s innocence beams from his face while Hannah’s bitterness and anger radiate from every line of her body. Likewise Hooke’s dark and driven soul is etched on his face. But there are some panels where the art and, more to the point, the coloring, are inconsistent, stealing the impact. Where Torres really hits a home run every time is when it comes to the Queen of Thorns. He makes the wooden avatars as sinister and malevolent as possible and the effect is eerie. The sequential panels where the Queen takes over pieces of wood are evocative and have a sense of movement.

In the final reckoning Salem: Queen of Thorns has an interesting hook (pardon the pun), some unique ideas and art well handled and some ideas and art not so well handled. As it is early in the race yet it is fair to give this title a chance to see if it can settle into a pace and cross the finish line.