Dresden Files: War Cry #1

Butcher, Powers, Gomez

SPOILER ALERT!

I will most certainly be SPOILING!

For those of you who aren’t already die hard fans of Jim Butcher’s urban fantasy epic the Dresden Files, get on board! While this isn’t the first foray of the wizardly private eye into comics, being preceded by two original stories; Welcome to the Jungle and Ghoul Goblin, and adaptations being made of the novels that made the character famous, but is a strong new installment.

War Cry #1 takes place during the time period in the series where the governing body of the White Council, the wizards, is at war with the Red Court, a particularly ugly but not undead version of vampires. Dresden, having been drafted into the conflict is in charge of a small contingent of Wardens, the White Councils warriors and law enforcement, all about as green as can be. With a brief history lesson about what is going on in the Dresden-verse, the comic continues with a much less epic scene.

Our hero and his recruits are driving through winter streets, talking to each other about their mission and mocking Dresden’s car, the affectionately named, Blue Beetle. The Beetle breaks down and they have to hoof it to the location they are to be extracting their charges, a group of librarians, from.

The quartet of Wardens had barely made it to the secluded house when the sun had set and Red Court vampires began to assault them. In a wonderfully narrated, action packed, and Latin peppered fight scene, we are introduced to the magical proficiencies of the small group.

While they are pummeling the Red Court, the reader is favored with a discussion between two of the vampire leaders. The male is clearly in charge, older, and stronger, egotistical enough to abuse his second in command off handedly.

Back at the battle, the Wardens still fight, but a vampire makes it to the building and lands a vicious blow against the first of the librarians. With more and more Red Court attacking, Dresden orders his team to fall back into the building.

Finally, we meet the people that our heroes are risking their lives to save. We also find out that things are no where near as simple as they should be, with the librarians demanding to stay and defend their home.

Both Dresden and the Red Court leader find themselves dwelling on the results of their first skirmish, both bringing up, with adequate degrees of fear or confidence…

“…after all, we have all night.”

I may be biased, but I absolutely loved this comic. It didn’t have the kind of exposition that I would have preferred, kind of throwing the reader into the thick of things without much traction, but the art and action make up for it. As a fan of the series, it is excellent to see the familiar characters, specifically Remirez and Yoshimo, portrayed on the glossy page and visible for the first time. The running narrative gives the Dresden we are used to a slightly more responsible feel than we are used to, mostly due to a lack of wisecracks and witty, internal banter. All in all, a great beginning to an excellent story.

My rating 4 / 5

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