The major comic companies get enough reviews and press, it’s time for the creator-owned and indie series to get some love and judgment. Indie review takes up-and-coming indie and creator-owned series and puts them through the review process so you can confidently support the best of the small press and passion driven projects in the comic industry.

 

The Info Bit

Title: Hoax Hunters #1

Genre/s: Paranormal/ Mystery

Writers: Mike Moreci (Something Wicked) & Steve Seeley (From Heaven to Hell)

Artist: Axel Medellin (50 Girls 50)

Colorist: Axel Medellin (Elephant Men)

Letterer: Jim Campbell (Grimm Fairy Tales)

Publisher: Image Comics

Number of Issues: 2 (on-going starting at #0)

Page Count: 32

Price: $2.99

 

The Review Bit

Fans of Tim Seeley’s current Hack/Slash on-going might already be familiar with Hoax Hunters, which first began appearing as a back up story in issue #1 of the series. Co-written by Tim’s brother, Steve Seeley and Mike Moreci, Hoax Hunters is a new paranormal on-going series that holds flavors of The X-files and Men In Black.  The series follows the adventures of Regan, Jack, Ken, and Murder (who first joined the team in the Hack/Slash back-ups now collected in Hoax Hunter #0). This rag tag group of uniquely powered beings host a television series called Hoax Hunters, where they disprove all the classic myths and urban legends that social networks seem to aid in popping up. The twist is that these myths and legends are all real monsters, ghosts, aliens, etc that the Hoax Hunters must put down or stop. Working for some unknown government agency, the group exists to protect us from the paranormal by lying to us in the one place we least expect it: TV.

Issue #1 of Hoax Hunters has fans diving directly into the plot of some bayou based Louisiana swamp beast known as the ‘Honey Island swamp monster’. It seems like just another day for the Hoax Hunters, but some readers might be a little lost. For those not familiar with the characters it might be a little jarring to enter the story without much knowledge of who these people are and what they do. Of course issue #0 was there to aid new readers, but as far as #1 stories go, this feels more like the story you’d expect to find one or two arcs into an on-going. Never-the-less, once you have an understanding of who’s who and what’s what the comic is quite fun. Hoax Hunter #1 sets up a great start to a paranormal mystery, with a bit of a twist and some interesting subplot that this case/episode might have a much deeper importance for one of the main characters, Jack, who lost his father in a similar incident.

 Mike Moreci and Steve Seeley have designed an interesting team of characters whose interactions are fun to read and should make for some entertaining dialogue and scenes down the line. While their writing has yet to show anything that steps into the realm of extreme surprise or unbelievably deep, it is good entertainment and fills the void of X-files, Fringe, or other paranormal mystery shows. In fact, I dare say it could be better simply because one of Hoax Hunter’s cast, Murder, is a haunted space suit filled with crows that films the TV show. Let’s see Chris Carter top that!

Axel Medellin brings a fun style of art to the series that is fitting for the book. It is not too dark, and brings an appropriate look to the characters that was somewhat missing from the back up stories. However, while Axel showed off his skills in some amazing work on Frank Cho’s 50 Girls 50, his pages in Hoax Hunters are a little lacking in the background department. Furthermore, while his colors are fine, they simply don’t make his art pop as well as Nikos Koutsis’ did. Yet facial expressions are always a huge selling point in sequential art for me, and Medellin does an amazing job there, expressing the concern, fear, and anger in his characters faces. His monsters aren’t half bad either, which is key when drawing a book like this.

The Rating Bit

Hoax Hunters #1 throws its audience directly into a pre-established universe of characters and concepts that might make it a little hard for new readers to follow as they pick up the new on-going series. But for fans of the Hack/Slash back up stories or readers who are willing to accept this, Hoax Hunters has a great premise and the potential to be a very enjoyable series. With a need for more paranormal mystery comics to match the demand brought out by television series like X-files, Hoax Hunters is while worth picking up and earns the solid 7 out of 10 that should have you asking your retailer for a copy next time you’re in your local comic shop.