COVER OF DARKNESS #5, from Source Point Press on May 25th, 2022, traces the history of the werewolves. Meanwhile, the origins of all monsters start to come together.
The Details
- Written By: George Michail, Chris Cam
- Art By: M.J. Hiblen
- Colors By: M.J. Hiblen
- Letters By: Nikki Powers
- Cover Art By: M.J. Hiblen
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: May 25, 2022
Was It Good?
COVER OF DARKNESS #5 has a few trouble spots, but the threads established over the last four issues are coming together. This issue is better than issue #4 in terms of plot points that make sense and maintain a sense that the story is moving in a particular direction.
What’s the big positive in this issue? Werewolves. Lots and lots of werewolves. Michail and Cam give you an interesting twist on the werewolves who kidnapped Zelina by intermixing the werewolf lore with Viking history. Vikings and werewolves are two great tastes that taste great together, and this story gives you the best of both worlds by establishing a Viking crew that maintains its code of honor and battle toughness while living with a curse that compels them towards darkness. Putting both story elements together is a cool concept, and you could see an entire series solely based on the Viking Werewolves.
However, the time jumps and lack of flow are killing the enjoyment of this series. Michail and Cam are trying to get all the disparate threads in all at once with multiple time jumps for each, and it comes off sloppy and chaotic. The best issues in the series focused on two or three threads that had the time to feel complete and developed. An average comic will have 5 or 6 scenes to get the theme of the issue across to the reader and set up whatever comes next. This issue has 13 separate scenes, some without any clarifying captions describing when and where you are. It’s too much, and if the creators need to jam it all in to finish the story before they run out of issues, they either need to create more issues or pare the story back. Too much story and not enough pages are just as bad as too many pages with not enough story.
Again, this issue is better than issue #4, particularly because the subject matter is more believable and interesting, but it’s the execution that’s hurting this series’s success.
We’re enjoying Hiblen’s art in this series and look forward to seeing more. The roughy, sketchiness of the lines gives the characters a ragged edge. Hiblen doesn’t pull any punches with dangerous-looking monsters and enough gore to make you truly afraid of just about everything in this world. The future of this title is unclear, but we sincerely hope Hiblen continues crating more horror comics in the future, perhaps with a little more polish on object lines and surfaces.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Catch up with the origin of the Gill Man in our COVER OF DARKNESS #4 review.
We begin with a Viking raiding party returning to their village 17 years ago. Their welcome is not particularly warm because they’ve returned from a failed raid as werewolves. Ulf, their captain, does his best to integrate the crew back into the village, but his brother stirs up trouble against Ulf, partly out of jealousy for Ulf’s possessions and partly out of fear of Ulf’s curse. When the village eventually turns against them, Ulf and his crew leave to establish a new home abroad.
The were-Vikings head out with no destination in mind, only following the pull of the wolf spirit within them. As they near a new land, Ulf’s wife gives birth to a daughter, Echo, and the werewolves establish a new village near the woods of Transylvania.
We conclude the issue with shell games, Yetis, Were-Polar Bears, Mummy ghosts, and loyalty to a new master.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
(Click this link 👇 to order this comic)
COVER OF DARKNESS #5 is a significant improvement over the previous issue with cool monster origins and a glimpse into how the previous issues will start to tie together. That said, the creators try to cram in too many scenes all at once without any connective tissue, making for a chaotic reading experience.
As an Amazon Associate, we earn revenue from qualifying purchases to help fund this site. Links to Blu-Rays, DVDs, Books, Movies, and more contained in this article are affiliate links. Please consider purchasing if you find something interesting, and thank you for your support.
We hope you found this article interesting. Come back for more reviews, previews, and opinions on comics, and don’t forget to follow us on social media:
If you’re interested in this creator’s works, remember to let your Local Comic Shop know to find more of their work for you. They would appreciate the call, and so would we.
Click here to find your Local Comic Shop: www.ComicShopLocator.com