Coffin Hill (2013-) #1

What a dark and twisted tale! I wanted to read this as soon as I saw that it was a team effort between Caitlin Kittredge and Inaki Miranda. I fell in love with Kittredge's writing in her Iron Codex series. She pulls a lot from H.P. Lovecraft for her inspiration, and her stories always have this air of both menace and adventure to them. Miranda is the illustrator for the FABLES series, which I love! So, as you can probably tell, I was pretty darn excited to dive into this graphic novel.

The illustrations were spot on to what I was expecting. Slightly gritty, and perfectly dark enough to convey the atmosphere that this story needs. Eve Coffin's story definitely isn't a happy one. She comes from an ages old family. A family with a history of awful secrets and untold power. Eve wants to take that power for her own, and use it to break away. Unfortunately for her, this is a power that won't be controlled. All Eve manages to do is wake something. Something evil, and hungry.

Flash forward to an adult Eve who's now on the police force. The panels slowly unfold to reveal a troubled woman with who is trying her best to flee from her past. Every time she thinks she's distanced herself from the darkness, it pulls her right back in. There are little things that I noticed while reading. Things like a mysterious problem with Eve's eye, and her affinity for crows. These are never fully explained, but it didn't hurt my feelings. I think it's a great build up for what's to come.

This is a brilliant introduction to a brand new story. It's not quite horror, but it definitely borders on that. Coffin Hill looks to be a promising foray into paranormal romance, with a main character who has a lot to offer. There's so much about Eve that isn't revealed in this first installment. So many secrets that are still left to be uncovered. I, for one, am ready to embark on the rest of this journey.