The Anchor # 1

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Title: The Anchor # 1
Rating:
Publisher Website: BOOM! Studios
Writer: Phil Hester
Pencils: Brian Churilla
Inks / Colors: Mathew Wilson
Number of pages: 32
Price: 3.99
Color: Color
Safety Content Label: T+ TEENS AND UP - Appropriate for most readers 13 and up, parents are advised that they might want to read before or with younger children.

Publishers Blurb:
THE ANCHOR #1 - THE ANCHOR. Holy warrior, unholy war. Freak of nature, beast of burden, hulking outcast, medieval prize fighter, Viking raider... God's own leg-breaker. One thousand years ago a hulking outcast sought refuge in the crumbling ruins of an ancient monastery and offered in return the one thing he had to give - his fists. Transformed into an immortal warrior monk standing at the gates of Hell itself to keep our world free from its invading armies, The Anchor is mysteriously tricked into centuries of slumber. But today, this holy warrior rises to battle all the unholy monsters unleashed during his slumber. Cataclysmic action, quirky humor, and profound pathos for fans of HELLBOY and THE GOON. A new BOOM! ongoing series, brought to you by Eisner Award-nominated writer/artist Phil Hester (GREEN ARROW, SWAMP THING, THE COFFIN, FIREBREATHER, THE DA RKNESS) and fan-favorite artist Brian Churilla (REX MUNDI, THE ENGINEER, CREEPY).

Reviewer Comments:
Don't you just love when a new comic you've been looking forward to finally comes out...and exceeds all your high hopes? Hester and Churilla's ANCHOR did exactly that!

Right off the bat, this book is set apart from other comics. The look and feel of the book is as much a character as Anchor, Hofi, or anyone else in the book. Hester writes a dark and serious book with some very high concepts, and Churilla's art is moody and plays the supernatural very straight, but his style is just cartoonish enough to keep the book from drowning in its own dark tones. It's still moody and heavy, but not wet wool blanket heavy. It falls in its own special place, not as grim as Mignola's work on HELLBOY, not as whimsical as Smith's work on BONE, but a nice in-between that would look great on a bookshelf with those and others of their ilk.

Our hero, Anchor (so named because he wears a cross of St. Clement, which is shaped like an anchor), is a tortured soul. No, not metaphorically. The man exists both physically on Earth and spiritually in Hell. ON earth he fights the monsters sent to plague mankind. In hell his soul ALSO fights the monsters that plague mankind, it's just that there are a lot more of them. Along the way he meets Hofi Eriksdotter, a kind-hearted history nerd who volunteers her time at a local emergency shelter when a giant glacier monster attacks the city.

The issue takes place in Iceland, by the way, which also helps distinguish it from other comics. And it's perfect, really, because in a country that gave the world Bjork and Lazy Town, giant glacier demons seem that much more plausible.

So what you have here is a monstrous guy, with unshakeable faith in the Almighty, saving the world from much more monstrous monsters. It's brilliantly written and fantastically drawn to be the perfect combination of action and intelligence that keeps you thinking while still feeling "fun".

You don't see many books like this. Go get it.