Review: Rachel Rising #1

Terry Moore is a creator that seems to either captivate youor rub you the wrong the way. Some comic readers really get and enjoy his well-craftedand yet different storytelling style and I mark myself amongst them. Rachel Rising is actually a book thatMoore “tweeted” about a while back and said that it was going to be somethingvery different from everything else creator owned that he’s done. Although Ihaven’t read his entire body of work (yes I know I need to pick up Strangers in Paradise), I can say thatthis is in fact very different but extremely interesting at the same time.

The issue opens with a woman walking through the woods untilsee reaches a clearing with a gully below her. She lights a piece of paper onfire and sends it to the ground below her. After the paper finishes burning ahand rises from the ground and soon the rest of a woman’s body emerges from thesoil below. The first woman begins to walk away as the buried woman covered in dirtrises from her shallow grave in a short black dress. There is a glimpse of a darkfigure choking her from her POV in a flashback, before we see a mark that wraps around herneck. The other noticeable difference is the reddening of her eyes. She makesher way to the street and is picked up by a man driving by. He offers to takeher to the hospital or at least stay with her to make sure she’s oaky, but shedeclines.

There’s a bit more to the story, but not enough to ruin thebook for you. It’s very interesting and sets up the story for a mystery as Rachel will likely have to solve her own death. What’s really great about the issue and Moore’swork in general is the lack of narrative boxes and dialog. He tells you so muchvisually that I couldn’t help but be impressed with his storytelling talent. Literallyhalf the book is without so much as a dialog bubble. Frankly it’s easy to havecaptions aka the "new thought bubbles" tell the story for you, but to be able totell a story without and have it not only make sense but work is a greatthing.

If you’ve never seen Terry Moore’s art then you’ve robbedyour eyeballs of some of the best art in comics. His style is recognizable, buthe manages to make the characters look as unique as his story. Sure you’llalways catch a glimpse of Strangers inParadise within the art, but everything is hands down beautiful. Moore createsscenes and picturesque moments that at times have a background, mid-ground andforeground and each position is detailed and life like. What I particularlylike about the art is that a scene can be very detailed and yet not overlydetailed. Some artist can draw so much on a page, but if you can’t see thetrees from the forest then it’s lost on the human eye. Moore actually draws avery lush forest in this issue and uses a balance of detail and black fill to createit wonderfully.

Rachel Rising isoff to a very interesting start and frankly if you haven’t heard about it untilnow then you’re even further behind then I am. After finishing the first issueI’m going to be tracking down the next two issues that are already out and frankly youshould join me in picking them up.

Score: 5/5