In THE SHEPHERD: THE PATH OF SOULS #1, available from Scout Comics on September 8th, 2021, three generations of men navigate the realm between Heaven and Earth to bring peace to hurting souls along the way.
The Details
- Written By: Andrea Lorenzo Molinari, Roberto Xavier Molinari
- Art By: Jess Hara, Kyle Huston
- Colors By: Jess Hara, Kyle Huston
- Letters By: D.C. Hopkins
- Cover Art By: Charles Paul Wilson III
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: September 8, 2021
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Was It Good?
It’s an interesting premise. A son dies and his father follows him to help his son’s hurting soul move on. The two are guided by the long-deceased grandfather.
The team of Molinari & Molinari put a great deal of effort into this work, especially in the battle scene in Fallujah, which is actually a wounded souls projection of Fallujah. This limbo is thoroughly crafted and researched, so you actually feel like the protagonists are participating in somebody else’s memory.
The major down point in this issue’s writing, however, is a tough one to overcome. I was bored stiff halfway through. The Molinaris spent so much time and detail making the battle scene as realistic as possible, the battle scene that takes up 75% of the issue, you get lost in the details, and nearly all drama is completely wiped away.
The issue becomes a very long exposition dump of information and learning about the rules of how limbo works, embedded in tedious military jargon and battle planning. Again, the Molinaris earn high marks for research and realism, but reality often doesn’t make for interesting storytelling.
The art is decent enough for the material, also focusing on realism surrounding the battle in Fallujah with everything from battle uniforms to tanks to weapons. On the realism score, the art looks great.
However, the second down point is the lack of distinctiveness in the characters’ faces. When everyone is wearing similar uniforms, it’s thought to tell who is who when all you have to go on are sketchy, loosely defined faces.
To be fair, I like the premise and the ideas the creators are going for. However, the execution spends so much time on realism and accuracy, the storytelling gets put to the side, making for a boring reading experience.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Val Miller, Prof. Lawrence Miller, and his long-deceased grandfather, Franco Miller, wander the limbo between Heaven and Earth to find peace for themselves and other hurt souls. Prof. Miller came to limbo to aid his recently deceased son when he became convinced Val’s soul was suffering, so he does what any loving father would do — he follows his son into the afterlife to help him.
As three generations of Millers wander limbo as a family to get to whatever is next for Val, Franco fills his son and grandson in on why the surroundings keep changing. Limbo changes around souls to create a space where the hurt can remember and heal. Sometimes souls that carry excessive wounds become sick and turn into monsters that lash out to hurt other souls on their journey.
The Millers suddenly find themselves at the planning stages of a battle in Fallujah circa 2004. A deceased soldier carries the pain and trauma of losing his comrades and limbo has reformed into the battle to help this soldier find a way through his pain. The Millers get pulled into the memory and find themselves participating in the military operation more than they had planned.
We conclude the issue with a look at how other soldiers see the same battle, a reveal that more than hurt souls have joined the memory, and the realization that a remembered battle can still be very dangerous.
Final Thoughts
THE SHEPHERD: THE PATH OF SOULS #1 crafts a unique vision of the afterlife and what it means to move on. The creators get high marks for attention to realism and details, but the excessive accuracy and details bury the story in minutiae, making for a tedious reading experience.
Score: 6.5/10
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