By Keigen Rea — I’m not sure if Miskatonic #1 is perfectly timed, or terribly timed, and moreover, I don’t really know if it sticks the landing. Part of that is the nature of a first issue not really being a complete story, but there isn’t quite enough here for me to know if coming back for the second issue is worth it. 

Miskatonic is about Miranda Keller of the Bureau of Investigation, who is sent to the Miskatonic Valley to look into a strange explosion. There she meets Tom Malone, who is convinced there is something spooky afoot. It gets more complicated from there, in good and maybe not so good. 

And that’s the thing. As a first issue, it’s got me at least a little bit interested in what’s going on, but I’m not totally sure it will be worth the wait. It is extremely spoilery to say exactly what it is, but in broad terms it feels like a very human and very timely evil may be attributed to something not human and I just don’t know how that reads to me right now. And hey, in its defense, it is a riff on Lovecraft! Which also may not be worth doing in 2020! But again, this is only the first issue, and it may prove to to do something interesting with all of this, but, well, it’s a first issue, so it should probably already be doing interesting stuff with all of this. 

Leaving that messiness aside, I do really like the character of Keller. I think she is immediately interesting and flawed in her own ways, but similarly, I think there’s room to grow. Of everything in the issue, she is the biggest reason I would return to the series, mostly to see if her faults are more examined in future issues. Again, though, I don’t think this first issue does enough to really sell a series about Keller. I’m not really sure the faults I see are text, or if I’m making her more interesting than the twenty pages I have read did. This first issue keeps a lot of the themes vague, which on one hand is good because it may be setting up a nice reveal, but on the other hand means there’s a whole lot of room for failure. Either way, it’s hard to judge now.

Overall: I’m not ready to write Miskatonic off completely yet, but this first issue isn’t among my favorite debuts of the year. Give this a go if you’re really into Lovecraft and X-Files and not into critiquing those things (yet). 7/10 (with room to grow!) 

REVIEW: Miskatonic #1

Miskatonic #1
Writer: Mark Sable
Artist: Giorgio Pontrelli
Colorist: Pippa Bowland 
Letterer: Thomas Mauer
Publisher: Aftershock
Price: $4.99
Miskatonic Valley holds many mysteries – cultists worshipping old gods, a doctor deadset on resurrecting the recently deceased, a house overrun by rats in the walls – but none more recent than a series of bombings targeting the Valley’s elite. These horrors reach a breaking point when the brilliant, hard-nosed investigator Miranda Keller is sent to stop the bombings. To J. Edgar Hoover, there can be no other explanation than those responsible for similar actions during the Red Scare of the 1920s…but when Miranda digs too deep, she uncovers an unimaginable occult conspiracy, one that may cost Miranda her job – and her sanity. From writer Mark Sable (GODKILLERS, Graveyard of Empires) and artist Giorgio Pontrelli (Dylan Dog), MISKATONIC is a mix of historical crime fiction and Lovecraftian-horror that dives deep into the American nightmare.
Release date: November 11, 2020
Buy It Digitally: Miskatonic #1 on comiXology

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Keigen Rea is busy vibing. Vibe with him @prince_organa