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Colder: Toss The Bones #1
Released by: Dark Horse Comics
Released on: September 30th, 2015.
Written by: Paul Tobin
Illustrated by: Juan Ferreyra
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A 'get you up to speed' intro tells us that Declan and Reece are recovering from their last adventure where they took on Swivel unaware that Swivel's death allowed Nimble Jack to resurrect. Since coming back, Jack is able to zip back and forth between Boston and 'The Hungry World' where he is hoping to rally the agents of darkness to join him in an attempt to do away with Declan for good.
This new storyline begins in a park where a homeless man sits with some pigeons. Jack approaches him and sits down and tells him his own story - the man's name is David Brisson and the reason he's homeless is because his wife kicked him out after she caught him having an affair with a barista. Jack tells him he knows who is after him but before he tells him, he prances off through the park. And then the pigeons start talking to David. All of them. At the same time.
Somewhere else, Declan and his girlfriend are grocery shopping. They're surprised when a pigeon flies into the store but that doesn't stop them from going out for a bite to eat - but again, they're surprised when a pigeon flies into the restaurant.
In The Hungry World, Jack is talking to pigeons and monsters and whoever or whatever else will listen to him. He heads back to Boston and opens up a woman's head to put a pigeon inside. 'Help the sane.' He, along with a doppelganger, essentially unleash chaos. As Declan and his significant other discuss his past, Jack befriends a young woman named Cassandra, chatting her up in her room as she tries to drown out the sounds of her parents fighting but listening to music. After that, he heads into The Hungry World and gives a pep talk…
It's clear from the start, Hell, it's even stated in the opening text, that this time around Jack is going to do his damnedest to take Declan out of the picture. If that involves rallying troops in both the real world and the Hungry World, it would seem he has no problem with that. Based on their past together and based on Jack's mental state this isn't such a surprise. We kind of knew it was coming. Where the tension in this first issue stems from is how he'll do it and what exactly Declan can to do prevent it, if anything.
The story has some nice moments of contrast. Scenes where Declan enjoys some moments of calm domestic bliss (wherein he basically sums up his past with 'I don't want to talk about it') are juxtaposed against scenes where Jack is running around tearing peoples' heads off or throwing women in front of fast moving buses. It's a good way to hold our attention and to keep us flipping those pages - you don't really know where it's going to go. Those pigeons though… they're definitely up to something. They're appearing in places they wouldn't normally appear and, well, they're talking. That's not right. Pigeons don't talk. Or do they? Nice job on Tobin's part here grabbing our attention and ensuring in the first chapter that we're going to check back in to find out how all of this gets resolved.
Anyone familiar with the series already knows that Juan Ferreyra's art is gorgeous. This issue sees him continue that trend. With color assists from Eduardo Ferreyra he creates a fantastic style that is as beautiful as it is morbid and grotesque. There's a lot of great detail not just in the way that the characters are illustrate but in the backgrounds as well and he does a great job of creating a creepy sense of skewed movement when it comes to showing how Jack goes about his business. He also does a fine job with the creature design and somehow manages to make pigeons look scary.
Like most first issues do, this one ends on a cliffhanger - we wouldn't want it any other way. But if you've been enjoying the Colder storylines that Tobin and Ferreyra have been creating together, you're crazy not to get in on this one too. Great stuff.
