Weird Detective #1

Written by: Fred Van Lente

Art by: Guiu Vilanova

Coloured by: Mauricio Wallace and Josan Gonzalez

Lettered by: Nate Piekos

I went into the first issue of Weird Detective relatively blind. I knew that it had a Lovecraftian theme, but beyond that, I didn't really know what I was in for. What I ultimately came away with is that Weird Detective is... weird. I'm still not entirely sure if this is a good weird or a bad weird, but I am completely on board to see where this rabbit hole goes and find out.

The story follows Sebastian Greene, a police detective with a mediocre track record, at least up until recently, when he has suddenly become the best detective in the precinct. He is given a partner who is tasked with discovering what caused the sudden change, and the issue revolves around him attempting to hide his secret from her while also trying to solve the mystery of what exactly happened to a person who had their insides sucked out, as well as an overarching plot of something trying to destroy the planet. The writing is good for the most part, although the side characters tend to let Greene get away with a lot with the only rationale being that he is “Canadian”, and Greene himself acts extremely strange in a way that I'm not entirely convinced that I am a huge fan of, although this is a plot point. I was very happy to see just how explicit the Lovecraftian influences were, and going forward with the series I think that that will probably be the main area where my interest will lie.

The art is okay, heavy shading a focus on darker colours leads to setting a good, darker, grimmer tone, and from what I've seen of some of the more unusual and alien designs in several pages, the style works very well to create unsettling shapes and detailed monstrosities, however the art tends to fall apart a bit with expressive faces. Whenever a face is meant to show emotion, something just feels off about it, and I occasionally find myself unsure of exactly what the character is meant to be feeling at the time. My hope is that as the series continues, there will be more of a focus on the supernatural, which will rectify the issue a bit, as those designs are superb.

Ultimately I remain unsure of exactly how I felt about this issue. All of the pieces are there for a very interesting and psychologically thrilling story, and I'm definitely on board to see where this goes, but I doubt that this issue would do a lot to win over a reader that wasn't as interested in its Lovecraftian roots. For those of us that are more familiar with the lore, however, I anticipate if nothing else an interesting ride.