Sacred Creatures #1
Writer: Pablo Raimondi & Klaus Janson
Artist: Pablo Raimondi
Colorist: Chris Chuckry
Letterer: Tom Orzechowski
Publisher: Image Comics
A review by by Greg Brothers
Superheroes, sci-fi, horror, shadowy long living figures pulling strings behind the scenes to reach their goals. These are common tropes when it comes to foundation of a comic book. The question then because how do you make your story unique and interesting for the reader. Sacred Creatures #1 is the most recent comic to take a shot at the shadowy God like beings’ genre.
Coming in at an extra sized sixty-six pages, Sacred Creatures #1 introduces us to a family of gods as they prepare for an unknown mission against an unknown enemy. What we do know is that they are unable to launch the assault themselves because of some universal rule. Enter Josh, a down on his luck guy with a pregnant wife, a mother-in-law that is not a fan, and the ability to mess up even the most perfect of opportunities. As the two groups’ paths intersect, Josh is given the opportunity of the lifetime: if he agrees to do a favor for the family.
Sacred Creatures #1 has a lot of moving parts to it and from the beginning the reader is thrown right into the middle of it all with very little explanation as to who everyone is. The reader is made to jump from the future to the past to the present all within a few pages and more and more characters are added with little to no explanation as to who they are. Its jarring to say the least and the reader is forced to constantly go back and try to remember where in the time line they are.
In addition to the timeline jumping, some of the plot points made little to no sense. You have this family approaching Josh with a promise of his dreams coming true, only to watch them tear him down after he agrees to do the deed for them. It makes no sense at all. The whole pacing, order, and plot points seem off throughout the entire story.
The art in Sacred Creatures #1 is the high point of the book. The lines are crisp and clean. The details reveal more about the book than the actual story does and several action words are used in unique ways and that brings the panel to life. The colors are bright, yet realistic with blues and greys filling the night skies. The violence in the depiction is not over the top or cartoonish, instead it falls into the realm of realism.
The Verdict
Skip It. Sacred Creatures #1 comes in at a whopping sixty-six pages, but reads like it is a hundred and could have been told in twenty. There is just way too much going on, with very little to no substance. You are not given enough of Josh’s story to care about him as all the terrible things happen to him and seeing him murder someone has no effect. It’s obvious that this team had some bold plans but unfortunately most of it results in a miss that can easily be skipped.
