Broken Frontier

Writer Ezra Stone is close to discovering why the legendary monster known as the 13th Son exists and what this heralds for the world.

I am a huge fan of artist Kelley Jones, and often I have compared him to contemporaries like Bernie Wrightson and Mike Mignola. I think Kelley has achieved the same personal icon status in the field of sequential art and he’s managed to put his own unique stamp on every creator-owned project he’s ever worked on. Now with that being said, his latest book is no exception, and The 13th Son delivers the goods.

The story begins in a cemetery where several unsavory creatures are feasting on a freshly unearthed corpse. While they go about this grisly task, one of the monsters is leafing through a copy of horror writer Ezra Stone’s books. The creatures banter amongst themselves since the subject of the book is about the alleged existence of the 13th Son. The monsters don’t believe he exists and laugh it off with a rancorous chorus of guttural moans. But to their surprise a darkly cloaked figure leaps out of the shadows and viscously attacks the trio of monsters, dispatching them all as quickly as possible.

This darkly concealed monstrosity does indeed reveal himself to be the 13th Son, and much of the opening chapter is meant to give readers a frenetic portrait of the monster-turned-monster hunter. From here the remainder of the story is all just set-up, and we get introduced to writer Ezra Stone who’s embarking on a book tour. He’s written a book about the history of the 13th Son, and much of the second half of the story gets bogged down in exposition from the writer’s point of view of the creature’s existence. The story does have one interesting twist though at the end, but you’ll have to find out for yourself if you decide to read the issue.

Again, I admit to being a big fan of Kelley’s art and I really feel he outdid himself here with the monsters. It’s obvious to me that he’s found his niche artistically, but I wish I could say the same for the writing. I really enjoyed how he set-up the story, but the second half was bogged down in too much exposition. I felt it took some of the steam out of the potency of the first few opening pages, and that’s a shame really. I feel Kelley’s work here would be greatly improved if he had a seasoned writer to help him flesh out the concept in more depth. But beyond that small bit of criticism, I still found the story strong enough to stand up on its own.

So if you enjoy monsters and horror comics in general then I suggest picking up this issue. Kelley’s work is a real treat and what better time than to release a book like this at Halloween? This book in itself is a real treat, so check it out!