Review: Ex Occultus: Badge of Langavat
“Aye, give us a hand.”
Smoke billows from Francis Wakefield’s pipe as he looks out over the rolling hills of the Scottish Highlands; the year is 1864 the and fortune-hunting Englishman finds himself at the beginning of an occult-themed adventure. Children from the nearby village have gone missing and Wakefield’s companion, Fergus Duff, believes he knows the answer: werewolves.
Admittedly, Indie comics can be very questionable at times, but in the case of Ex Occultus: Badge of Langavat, I was pleasantly surprised to find an interesting story with plenty of potential.
The story itself, written by Robert James Russell, is very captivating. The style of the narrative does very well to pull the reader in with just the right amount of dialog, making things both easy to follow and enjoyable to read without being superfluous. The dialog does seem a little abrupt and choppy in a few places, but this did very little to take away from the overall story, which was very well done.
Artist Sandra Lanz does a great job of illustrating the story; she does an especially fantastic job of drawing faces — and drawing them consistently, which is something that even the best comic artists sometimes have trouble with. The art is a little stiff in some places near the beginning, but Lanz seems to become more comfortable and confident with her artwork as the story progresses.
Overall, I really enjoyed this comic. It’s a little bit rough around the edges, but the potential for a fantastic series shines through. This is definitely a comic to check out if you enjoy occult genre adventure stories. There’s just enough action and suspense to keep any comic book fan on their toes. I look forward to reading more of the adventures of Francis Wakefield soon!
