Review:Ex Occultus Badge of Langavat

The guys at Saint James have published the first story in the Ex Occultus series, the one shot: Badge of Langavat.

It’s 1864 and village children have gone missing. Occult hunter Francis Wakefield (the series lead)  and Fergus Duff are determined to rescue them from the cursed Langavat clan. The Langavats believe that sacrificing the children will lift the curse that has transformed them into werewolves.

There is one fight scene that goes on for quite awhile with out any dialogue, which made those few pages feel a bit rushed. Other than that the story has just the right amount of suspense, and they did a great job containing all of the material to a 28 page book. The one thing that I really appreciated about the book was that the dialogue was easy to follow. Many writers of period pieces  focus so much on staying true to the dialogue of the time period, that they make it a little hard for those of us in the 21st century to follow (don’t get me wrong I love Shakespeare just not in my comics), Badge of Langavat balances the two perfectly making for an easy read.  I was also impressed by the book’s quality, the guys at Saint James did a really good job putting it together.

When we sat down with Jesse and Sandra (click here to see the interview), Jesse told us that Robert Russell was a novelist. That really comes across in the comic, and that is a good thing. I have found over the years that most of my favorite comic book writers are also novelist, they know how to tell a good story whether it is in sequential format or in the format of a novel. Rob does a great job telling the story.

Sandra is an art major who specializes in portraits, that is also a good thing. Her training and style fit the time period perfectly. That combined with Rob’s literary background makes for a well told, easy to look at book.

If you enjoy period pieces you’ll love this comic. You can purchase the book from Indy Planet.

Ex Occultus: Badge of Langavat
Created and Written By: Robert James Russell
Story: Robert James Russell, Jesse Young
Art, Cover, and Lettering: Sandra Lanz
Colors: Tim McDonley
Published By: Saint James Comics LLC