Damned, Cursed Children #1

Damned, Cursed Children #1

Source Point Press 2021

Written by Howard Wong & Josh Stafford

Illustrated by Robin Simon NG

Lettered by Howard Wong

In the sudden aftermath of a series of horrifying attacks, a group of strangers are forced together in a city gone mad. How many will overcome every human instinct, and do the unimaginable to survive in a world with Damned, Cursed Children?!

There are times when you think that a genre is dead, done to death and there can be nothing new to be seen. When you realise that isn’t the case it’s exhilarating to witness because more than likely it’s one of your favourite genres, in this case it’s mine. So when I started this and realised that this was a black & white book and I saw how the art looks I was intrigued and then as the story unfolds I was like “oh hell no” and with my eyes wide and in something of a shock I kept reading and I was in comic book heaven!

I am a fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is beautifully rendered. How this starts off is incredibly well done and wastes no time in engaging the reader and making them wonder the hell is going on. It is so effective that you have to keep going because there’s no chance in hell you want to miss how this complete and utter clusterfuck got started. The character development is interesting and that we are seeing a select group of folks who are handling this better than the others and will presumably star as the adults we need to watch for is extremely nice to see. How they act and react to the situations and circumstances really helps us to define these folks. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the story, the twists and turns along the way it sucks us in and leaves us wanting so much more by the last page.

The way that we see this being structured and the layers within the story emerging createst this wonderfully creepy, amazing and terrifying atmosphere. With how we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is sensational. This is the kind of story that has the ability to keep you awake at night and/or give you nightmares. Let’s face it there’s nothing creepier than kids who kill.

The interiors here are absolutely amazing. Black & white is such an unforgiving medium to work in because it will show all the flaws so much sharper than when it’s coloured in. So to see all the linework here with it’s varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work we are seeing is phenomenal! We see backgrounds being so essential to the storytelling and with how the composition within the panels show us some great depth perception, sense of scale and this overall sense of size and scope to the story as well as enhancing the moments. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a superb eye for storytelling.

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I love when you find a book that basically comes out of nowhere and shows itself to be one of the best things you didn’t know was out there. This is why I love Source Point Press they cover a wide range of genres and take chances on books that you aren’t going to see anywhere else. The future of storytelling looks bright and if this is what we have to look forwarded to i’m thrilled to be here reading and supporting these creators.