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Comic Book Review: The Wicked Righteous

The Wicked Righteous #1-3
Alterna Comics

Written by: Terry Mayo
Art by: Lucas Romero
Colours by: Christopher Hall
Letters by: Brandon DeStefano

The quality of mini series that Alterna comics produce, is nothing short of remarkable. It never fails to surprise me that there is so much under-rated talent available in the comics world, that goes under the radar as comic fans focus on the well established heroes and series that have huge media profiles due to movies and TV shows.

The highs and lows of the big hitters may still be the comics of choice for the masses, but often it can be a habitual requirement for the reader instead of a genuine regard for the material. Pull lists exist as it keeps regular customers visiting the LCS, and that’s a great thing, however, there is still room for everyone else, and those other indie titles that don’t have the exposure of Marvel, DC or even Image, often get overlooked, even though they regularly present alternative readers with amazing content.

The Wicked Righteous is one such title. Written by Terry Mayo, pencils and inks by Lucas Romero, colors from Christopher Hall and letters by Brandon DeStefano, the 6 issue series tells the story of 4 brothers in a post apocalyptic San Diego that fall foul of a gang of psychopaths, after rescuing a girl from their clutches.This triggers a series of events that looks set to have ramifications for the whole world. I should also state here that i’m only three issues into the 6 issue run, so this review is based solely on the first half of the series.

Terry Mayo takes us straight into the world of the 4 brothers – Johnny, Matt, Lucas and Mark, and preps us quite quickly with everything we need to know. Once the stage is set, things move quickly into the main plot. We get to see the world they live in, and it’s one we’ve seen before, think 80’s post apocalyptic movies, and you are on the right track. Mix in shades of Stand By Me and The Goonies, with a good dose of Manga, and you get a nice twist on the genre that feels familiar, but isn’t.

The art from Lucas Romero captures the feel of the script well, and you can see the Manga influences very clearly. Fans of this style will enjoy the art and colors here. His action sequences move well and are complemented by the more muted washed pallet used by Christopher Hall. Now it’s also worth noting that The Wicked Righteous is not an all ages book. The language and violence is sudden and visceral, and there’s a lot here that feels very Garth Ennis so mature readers only please.

Now the good news for anyone intrigued by this series, is that the entire 6 issue run is available as a trade, and you can find it right now on Kickstarter. I’ve had a look at the tiers and for $25 you get 170 pages of comic goodness, a sticker set and a collector’s pin too. If you just want to check out the single issues, let your LCS know that you’re interested, or order straight from Alterna, they are always happy to help out. The Kickstarter is well on it’s way, already at it’s initial goals, so stretches have been added and the book should ship to backers in November.On the Kickstarter page, there are plenty of pages to look at, all the front covers are there, and there’s merch too that is also very cool.

As always, if you check out a recommendation, please let us know your thoughts.

 

Rating: 8 out of 10