Review: Hunter/Prey TPB

Execution is everything when it comes to comics. You can have the best concept in the world and it won’t mean shit if you don’t execute it properly. Hunter/Prey is a book that knows what it is, knows its strengths and hides its weaknesses and is executed successfully. It’s been a while since I read a book as fun as Hunter/Prey and walked away wanting to talk about it.

The story takes place in a prison off the books. It has no name and technically doesn’t exist. The prisoners inside where deemed too dangerous or too far gone to be put through the court system and have ended up in the nameless prison nick-named “Heaven’s Gate.” We’re introduced to the world through the eyes of two fresh fish to the system. One is a pedophile and the other is serial rapist named Yost. He’s a mouthy mother fucker who starts shit upon being released into the commons of the prison. The other guy proclaims to be sick and ends up going to the infirm.

Meanwhile, Yost looks for his bunk mate, Willis, so that he can beat the shit out of him and establish his dominance. He heads over to a group of other inmates that point him in the right direction. He’s surprised to find Willis reading a book. He hesitates before throwing a punch at him. Without missing a beat, Willis grabs his fist and then picks him up and slams him down face first on a table. Yost instantly complains about his nose being broken and asks why he did that. Willis fixes his nose so that he’ll shut up. Already we have an idea as to what type of characters each of them is.

Back in the infirm, our pedophile dies… then springs back alive and begins “Akiraing” everyone in sight by sucking them into him. Soon, he’s unstoppable and the prison is in full riot mode. Now everyone is locked in with this monster that’s eating people and that includes the guards. We’re then introduced to more characters as they must all band together to escape the prison and destroy the monster.

This book is non-stop action with dialog that will make you laugh your ass off at times. When I said that "it knows what it is", I mean that it takes itself seriously for sure, but it will also make a joke at its own expense. I do have to warn you though that some of the prison dialog is straight out of Oz (not the magical land). So, if you have sensitive eye balls or read out loud you may not want to do that. Personally, I understood the context in which it was being used to establish the setting and realism of the dialog with the prisoners.

In particular I really enjoyed the Doctor character, as well as Shakespeare. Their appearance in the second issue really stole the show and I couldn’t be bothered to really care about anyone else. I still enjoyed the character of Willis and despised Yost, but that’s the way it was supposed to be. A major strength of the story is the fact that there is very little explanation about the background of the prison or the monster; and you won’t care when reading it. I literally got to the end and realized that they never told me what the monster actually was and I was glad. I didn’t need some long shoe-horned explanation telling me the "where’s" and "why’s." It works for the story and it keeps you focused on what’s important: prisoners escaping a monster that they can’t fight. I won’t ramble on too much about the different scenes from the comic, since I already did on the podcast; you can check that out for more details.

The art is good for the book. I can tell that it’s all hand drawn and inked with some Photoshop touch ups. It matches the story perfectly though by highlighting the mood and setting of the story. The prison is as much of a character due to the circumstances the characters find themselves in and the art brings it to life. I should mention that the book is in all black and white and that’s a strength in my book. If it were in color I think there would be too many pointless criticisms of the art.

I really liked this book which is being collected for your enjoyment. If you see Broken Icon on the con circuits then I encourage you to pick it up since it’s the most fun I’ve had reading an action heavy story in some time. The whole “prison” setting is a popular theme that people try over and over again with mixed results. Hunter/Prey does it right by adding a supernatural element to it and keeping it fun and fast paced.

Score: 4/5

Writer: KJM

Artist: Eziquel Pineda

Publisher: Broken Icon Comics