Comics Review: "The Squidder" #1

- by Ninja Ross, 16 July 2014

The Squidder has been around for a while now. Ben Templesmith had been teasing it for ages, before putting the original graphic novel up on Kickstarter from his own company, 44Flood. Now that the Kickstarter is complete and the goal has been easily met (and then some) IDW have teamed up with 44Flood to bring you the book in monthly instalments.

#1 cover. Click to enlarge.

Ben Templesmith has put his incredible skills to use on some of the best horror comics of all time, including 30 Days of Night, Criminal Macabre and Fell. While they’re all fantastic books (some of my favourite, as it happens) his solo work tends to be a little different. It’s still fantastic, but there’s usually a slightly wackier, nastier edge to them, specifically in the plot.

The Squidder takes place in a post apocalyptic world, where humanity lost the war against the almighty Squids generations ago. Things have gotten messy and the humans that are left are forced to survive by using violence and wit. The Kickstarter page describes it as “Mad Max meets Cthulu,” which is pretty spot on.

Our hero, a soldier from the legendary Squidder Legions, lives with the memories of failure during the war between humanity and The Squids. Actual giant evil squids, not some kind of metaphor. 

This guy could have turned out to be a miserable, generic action hero, but that sort of thing tends not to happen in a Ben Templesmith book. Instead, we get a super badass. The only way he could be MORE badass is if he was some sort of Kurt Russell/Robocop hybrid. Kurtocop.

Kurtocop?

The story is pretty sparse in issue one. We’re introduced to the protagonist as he kicks the crap out of some shady people. Said shady people eventually tell him they were sent to set up a meeting between The Squidder and their boss, Cylas Gardner. That’s pretty much all I can say without giving away the whole issue.

But it’s a fantastic start. It doesn’t feel drawn out or boring but it doesn’t feel rushed. One thing that has bothered me about Templesmith’s solo work in the past, especially in “Welcome to Hoxford,” is the pacing. While the rest of that book was superb, it did feel kind of rushed at times.

The Squidder, however, seems to be expertly paced. Everything is built up just enough, without cramming too much information onto one page.

The art, of course, is most excellent, which is to be expected from Templesmith. The bleak world that our hero inhabits looks about as clean as a public toilet... It’s gorgeous. It’s dark, grimy and full of life.

The characters themselves are distinct and well designed, with a definite Mad Max feel to them. I already told you how badass Kurtocop is. Here’s him being awesome some more.

For those of you unfamiliar with Templesmith’s work, he tends to create a very horrific atmosphere using dark colours mixed with orange and red. His characters are often very simplistic but easily recognisable. This book is some of his best work, perhaps even better than that of the classic 30 Days of Night.

Even if the story was absolutely terrible, I’d advise you to get this book. His work is always a joy to look at. But, thankfully, the story is NOT terrible!  Quite the opposite! I can not recommend this book enough. This is the best man on squid action I have ever seen before in my life.


“The Squidder” is out now from IDW. Planning to get it? Let us know in the comments!

Tagged: comics, Reviews.

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