Katabasis #1: Blood and Blades
Creative Team
writer: DAMIEN BECTON
artist: RODRIGO ROCHA
colorists: SALVADOR POMAR
letterer: DEZI SIENTY
publisher: BLACKBOX COMICS
Reviewed by Seth Adrian Romo
Katabasis #1 is full of visceral visuals as it blends fantasy and supernatural themes with epic action.
This series premiere introduces readers to Juniper, a skilled military operative whose latest mission goes awry and changes her entire reality. After being tasked with terminating a weapon of mass destruction, Juniper decides to go rogue when she learns the task involves a young girl.
This first issue opens with slick action and sets violence as the tone for the majority of the issue regardless of the story. While there are elements of otherworldly locations—bullets, blades, and blood are the core recipe for this title.
Written by Damien Becton, this issue is entertaining and Juniper is an interesting character. However, some of the story gets lost amongst the violence throughout the 20+ pages of story. Despite its fast pace, it feels like there are too many plot lines to follow. Although they are connected, readers might feel like too much is stuffed into one issue.
This is not to say that it’s bad. In fact, the core of the story is engaging. Fans of Spawn might notice a few similarities of a military human being given intense powers, but fortunately Becton is more than capable of creating their own protagonist and universe.
Some readers might prefer to see Juniper’s character have some time to breathe rather than the script constantly tell the reader how Juniper has a strong moral compass. First, readers are shown what happened to her and then sent right into an unknown dimension. A bit more mystery could have given even more weight to the final hook at the end of the issue.
Where this story is headed is still unknown—but it is suspected there is a long game designed by writer Becton. For now the visuals truly take the lead in this issue.
Illustrated by Rodrigo Rocha with colors by Salvador Pomar and lettered by Dezi Sienty, the art is nothing short of impressive and locks readers into the experience.
Juniper is certainly a badass character and Becton’s set pieces mean Rocha has more than plenty of action-packed moments to ‘wow’ the reader. From fights against terrorists to different types of creatures from the unknown, the designs are impressive and once Pomar’s colors are added, bloody panels and sharp knives make for some very epic moments. (It also helps that Becton is careful in his use of dialogue allowing Sienty to skillfully place the letters without needing to fill the page with exposition.)
Final Verdict
With impressive character and creature designs, Katabasis is an octane-filled story that can easily be described as metal.
| Criteria | Score |
|---|---|
| Writing | 8.0 |
| Story/Plot | 8.0 |
| Art/Line Work | 9.0 |
| Colors | 9.0 |
| Final Score | 8.5/10 |