Paranormal Hitmen #1 Advance Review

Paranormal Hitmen #1 Advance Review

Behemoth Comics 2020

On Sale Feb 10th 2021

Written by Brett Murphy

Illustrated & Lettered by Wilson Gandolpho

The Sopranos meets Ghostbusters in this action comedy starring Gene Rizzo and Devon Grace, two hitmen working for the infamous Alfonso Carboni. In issue #1 Gene and Devon are recruited into a mysterious Government agency called the United Paranormal Activity Agency (UPAA) where they are tasked with bringing back the stolen Specter Cube, a device that allows the dead to come back to the living world. Once word gets back to Alfonso Carboni that his top two hitmen are working for the Government he orders them to be taken out. Not only will Gene and Devon have to hunt and kill ghosts, they will have to dodge Alfonso Carboni and his men while doing it.

The premise here is interesting to me. It is off the beaten track and yet is completely approachable in how it’s being told. We are dropped into the middle of an ongoing story and if you aren't careful this can be disastrous. As it stands it’s done well enough so that we are intrigued by what we see and want to see more. This bodes well for Brett and his writing in my opinion, as this is my introduction him and his work so it’s nice to see right off the bat that he seems to know what he’s doing. I like the oddball stuff, that which folks seem to shy away from regardless of how often I encourage them to seek it out. So I’ll tell you now order this from our local shop or subscription service.

I like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. We have a nice progression in how we meet the characters and what roles they play in this unfolding drama and I have to tell you it’s a joy to read. The character development that we see here is nice and we get a pretty decent idea of who these folks are though at times it almost feels more aloof as if they are transitory in nature so they grow, evolve and change with the story. The pacing is nicely done and as it takes us through the pages revealing this world and the characters within we get taken on a different kind of ride.

The interiors here are nice, a little mor eon the simple side for me but they are rather lovely all the same thing. The linework is nice and i’d like to see a bit more variation in the weights but otherwise we do see some really nice attention to detail throughout. On a side note I was hoping that they were going to wake up nekkid but not in the cards today. I will wholeheartedly admit that seeing Frank was a huge highlight for me through the linework is the same it’s the colouring that really makes him stand out like he does. I am impressed with all the individuality that we see in the characters faces that’s a great distinguisher when dealing with meathead mafiosa boys. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a solid eye for storytelling. The colour work is beautifully rendered! How we see the choices made alongside the hues and tones within the colours that are utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is extraordinary to see. I like the creativity and imagination that we see here and Wilson has some solid talent that I cannot wait to see grow.

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This is a very delightful, entertaining and most importantly interesting story. I like the way we see this being structured and how the layering within starts to emerge. We see everything working so well together to create the story’s ebb & flow. We end this issue on one hell of a cliffhanger that guarantees you’ll be back for more. Join these two gentlemen for a good time as our new favourite duo become paranormal hitmen.