Demons, hunters, virgins, talking, winged hellhounds and family secrets make up the debut of Michael Avon Oeming’s newest creation Sinergy #1. Mortifying teenage angst gets upped to the supernatural level in this crafty approach to a tried and true genre.
WRITTEN BY: Michael Avon Oeming & Taki Soma
ART BY: Michael Avon Oeming & Taki Soma
PUBLISHER: Shadowline Comics / Image Comics
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: 19 November 2014
Reviewed by: Your Friendly Neighborhood Brady
Twitter: @mrbradysteele
Some families just have the worst luck and this one is one of them. For Jess, it’s being a Seer. That means she can see people as what they really are. Some people in Portland are actually demons which is always bad news for the rest of us. Ever since Buffy The Vampire Slayer modernized the monster hunter genre, there have been numerous twists on this recipe. Creators Michael Avon Oeming & Taki Soma have managed to find a new dynamic to this type of story in the form of a father and daughter team-up. Not only does a teenage girl discover a whole new horrific world, her dog Fry turns out to be a talking mongrel to boot! Like I said, Oeming and Soma have put some nice surprises into this tale.
Oeming and Soma’s art styles work so well together I had to double check the credits page to see who did what in this issue. Their combined styles are so unique I was surprised to find two artists at work within these pages. My only minor gripe is one I think only Canadians and hockey fans would notice. As great as it is to see girls playing ice hockey (brilliant way to introduce her future weaponry) it’s her friend’s goalie mask looked like something a polo player might wear. Hockey is a thrilling and dangerous sport so wear some good gear or an errant puck may take out our future heroine’s teeth or eye. Okay, now that I’ve got that out of my system: game on!
It’s nice to see Oeming do something a little lighter in tone than his magnificent and recently concluded The Victories epic saga. This series feels light but dark enough in tone to be successfully horrific. Demon slaying can always be gloriously disgusting. Paring that with a forced partnership of daughter and father and I’ve no doubt this will a great series to follow for as long as there be demons to destroy. This is a great start so get in on the ground floor to Sinergy #1.