Hinterkind #1 – Review

By: Ian Edginton (story), Francesco Trifogli (art). Chris Peter (colors)

The Story: In a land where the hunters have become the hunted, the hunted decide to hunt back.

The Review: I’ve never denied that I’m a DC fan, but I don’t think I’ve ever made known my particular love for Vertigo.  The Books of Magic and Sandman were two of the major works that led me to more serious comic book reading, and some of my favorite titles afterward came from the same publisher.  I confess it’s been a little difficult, seeing Vertigo’s position as primo indie publisher usurped by Image, but equally encouraging to see it making its revival now.

Hinterkind is the vanguard of Vertigo’s second wave of new titles, a smart position for the series since its premise has the potential for the broadest appeal: humans once again facing the wane of their species in a disaster-stricken world populated by wild animals and mythical beasts.  The characters are young, adventurous, and sensitive, making them easy to like.  Edginton’s writing is perhaps prone to too much exposition, but otherwise respectable.  In fact, Hinterkind’s biggest flaw is not so much in its execution as in a failure to take groundbreaking chances in its content.

That’s not to say the series can’t reveal its true, dazzling colors at a later point.  While the setting of Hinterkind is clear enough, how it got there is not.  The story refers to the disaster that led to the world’s return to wilderness merely as “the fall,” with no further specifics.  That’s a lot of important material being kept from us, and there’s at least a fifty-percent chance that Edginton will do more with it than make some preachy statement about mankind’s relationship to nature.  His opening monologue makes you think an environmental message is coming, but he later turns it around with a thoroughly unromantic fate for the actual tree-huggers:

“They were the ones who usually died first.  Green in more ways than one, Mother Dearest ate them whole.  They forgot the natural order of things is fickle and savage.  You have to earn your place in it to keep it.”

That statement draws a parallel between the physical obstacles our protagonists must face in the jungles—literally—of New York City and the personal challenges they experience in their Central Park home.  Even though Edginton takes us away from the settlement way too quickly, well before we get a chance to see how its society works, we know that the division of labor is quite rigid, forcing some to be Planters and others Hunters without leaving room for much choice in the matter.  This is most likely due in part to the need for maximization of resources in this troubled era, but just as likely due to discrimination.  Our female lead, Prosper Monday, protests her friend Angus’ decision to leave their home after he reveals a rather dramatic anatomical secret.  In answer, he shoots back bitterly, “You know what it’s like here.”*

Again, this is all potentially intriguing stuff, but Edginton gives us few hard details, leaving much of our understanding of post-“fall” life to suggestion.  He seems overly eager for Prosper and Angus to start on their quest and show us the wonders and dangers of the world he has in store.  There’s no doubt that we’d like to spend the bulk of our time there, too, but that doesn’t mean we can’t spare some patience for some context first.

At first blush, Trifogli’s lanky figures looks a lot like Tony Akins’ cartoony style of art, but closer inspection quickly reveals sharper, more delicate lines, allowing for a wider range of detail and texture than Akins usually manages.  If we get some grounding in the world of Hinterkind at all, it’s due to Trifogli’s visuals: the traffic permanently rusted and stopped in the overgrown streets; men hammering on anvils and women strolling in long dress in Prosper and Angus’ home; the shattered statute of Alice in Wonderland greeting our young heroes as they return.

Conclusion: A less than stellar debut, though Edginton and Trifogli give us a good taste of their noticeable talents.

Grade: B-

– Minhquan Nguyen

Some Musings: * It’s just as well that he decides to leave.  Can you imagine having to hide a rat tail on top of remaining permanently closeted?

– On that note, it seems that gay rights has regressed several decades along with the rest of society.

– I’m guessing by the way the head councilman’s wife eagerly suggests that Jessamy join the town doctor on his doomed journey to Albany that Jessamy in fact gave it up for the head councilman.  A pretty rough consequence for youthful indiscretion, I must say.