The Crow: Curare #1 Review

The Crow: Curare #1
Written by James O’Barr
Illustrated by Antoine Dodé
Colored by Antoine Dodé
Lettered by Shawn Lee
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 12, 2013

After Skinning The Wolves ended James O’Barr’s long absence from the franchise he is back with a new Crow tale entitled Curare.  And the high standard he set with Skinning of the Wolves is easily met in this tale of anguish and pain.

The narrative centers around Detective Salk, a retired police detective whose inability to solve a sexual assault and murder of a small child haunts him, making him unable to live his life in anyway.  This book is just eerie, the artwork by Antoine Dodé is surreal, pulling the reader into the mind of a haunted man.  The coloring is amazing, and defies nearly every comic book trope. 

The story is brutal and jarring, without ever being overly graphic.  This is by far one of the creepiest comics I have ever read.  The illustrations by Antoine Dodé are not very explicit in the harrowing violence, yet he conveys such malice and violence this will be a hard book to stomach for most people. 

James O’ Barr is brilliant in crafting this tale of the rape and murder of a child, without ever delving into exploitive territory.  The anguish that Salk feels is front and center, a man destroyed because he cares.  Fans of the original will find much to like here, but should be forewarned there is no physical spirit of vengeance taking out bad guys in this book.  Yet the tone and feel is still deeply entrenched in the original. 

This a must read for fans of dark comics.