Broken Frontier

Set in a rural secluded town known for its Bigfoot sightings, Willow Creek focuses on a deputy by the name of Deacon McKay.  He has recently returned to his home town and is on an introductory patrol with the Sheriff when a series of bizarre killings begins.

Williams and Beranek sure know a lot of useful horror staples.  The monster isn’t seen until the very end and its actual nature is left ambiguous.  The rural setting means that help won’t be coming quickly.  Our hero is new to town so there will be an uneven playing field for him.  He has an interesting family life. 

Really this reads like a less hyperkinetic 30 Days of Night.  They do change it up a bit by not having the town impossibly remote.  This should add a dynamic not available to the classic vampire tale by Niles as people should be able to come and go as they please.

The most interesting device the writers employ is the narration.  Not only does it get us up to speed in quick order, but it has a very Rod Serling feel to it.  It makes one wonder if this will be straight up horror or if it will have a more Twilight Zone feel of oddity.  The dialogue is crisp.  These sound like real people and not backwoods caricatures.  The tension is built slowly and by the end things seem to be getting out of hand.  All in all it’s not a bad exposition.

I’ve already mentioned similarities to 30 Days of Night and the references will probably be coming from all sides when the book is released.  Sure, snow and location have a lot to do with that, but the lion’s share of the familiarity of the book comes in Medors' art.  His use of muted colors, computer colored backgrounds that blur into characters & buildings, and shocking use of bright bold colors are definitely of the Templesmith School. 

Medor does use a little more detail in his lines and his designs are not as abstract, but if he hasn’t already he should be ready for the comparisons.  There are worse things than being compared to a master of comics.  Really, this talk will be superficial as his line work is not remotely like Templesmith’s.  He has a stronger feel for faces and as a result can display a wider range of emotion.

It’s a nice start.  Grisly murders in the woods and a possible Bigfoot connection.  It is an interesting angle.  Hopefully, it will remain an interesting book.