Comics Fondle

I tracked down Skinwalker because of Brian Hurtt. I think I’d always thought his first work was in Queen and Country or something, so this late 2001-early 2002 series was–I thought–going to be a discovered delight (discovered delights being forgotten works, the best example being Elia Kazan’s Wild River, which are mostly unknown and absolutely wonderful). Unfortunately, it’s not. On a few levels. Well, a couple. Two, not a few.

First, to get it out of the way… the inks. Hurtt inks himself these days and he does a much better job of it than his Skinwalker inker, Arthur Dela Cruz. Now, I realize–not seeing the distinctive Hurtt nose in Skinwalker–Hurtt’s obviously matured as an artist. But there’s something jarring about how sharp Dela Cruz’s inks are in the book, how reductive they are… Though, again, I might just be imagining things.

Second, and more important, DeFilippis and Weir’s story is serviceable, but totally unspectacular. It’s pedestrian in its twists and turns–though there was a decent one I didn’t see coming, followed by a painfully obvious one–and it’s generally silly. The dialogue and, especially, the narration are pat. They even forget the juxtaposed narration, which plays heavy in the first and last issues, for long stretches. It’s admirable, however, with all those surface level writing problems, how engaging they make both the mystery and the character relationship between the two leads. I’m sad there wasn’t a sequel.

C

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