[Review] Joe Golem a very occult detective

Mike Mignola, the famous screenwriter of Hellboy begins a new series: Joe Golem, detective of the occult published by Delcourt on May 16.

Glou glou, Grrr, Aaaah

The island of Manhattan has been under water since an earthquake. In this humid atmosphere, strange events disrupt the daily lives of the survivors. A stone giant, the golem of Jewish tales, is reborn by lightning during a stormy night. Joe Golem then becomes the underling of a paranormal investigator, Simon Church.

A launch with many mysteries still

This collection brings together two short stories – The Rat Hunter and Under Water, the Dead. In the first, a sea monster kidnaps the children. The reader immediately thinks of the creature from del Toro's latest film but less caressing. In the second story, a librarian wants to resurrect his family at all costs, but fulfilling his wishes can be very dangerous.

The writers do not try to solve everything but take the time to install a disturbing and opaque atmosphere. Joe Golem launches a longer series and in this first volume, the mysteries are numerous. The action is supposed to take place in 1965 but Golem is strangely dressed as a private detective of the 30s. Simon Church, seems to have lived abnormally long thanks to a drug. Joe has nightmares from the Middle Ages. But why does Church give him drugged tea? To stop the nightmares or to control it?

Mike Mignola is partnered with Christopher Golden but one wonders what is the part of each. The reading is very enjoyable. The Mignola enthusiast may be less surprised because we find the hobbies of the creator of Hellboy – the occult, sea creatures, steampunk where magic and science are mixed.

Visually, Patric Reynolds skillfully recreates the fifties atmosphere of horror films. His realistic drawing becomes more anxiety-provoking with dark colors – a dominant of brown and green especially for the faces – and a lot of black in connection with the atmosphere of the story. We can point out, for example, beautiful underwater fights with a trickle of blood that serves as a trace to pursue the creature and hide it in a sunken museum where Picassos and classical paintings with torn faces are used to compose with children's bodies, a macabre staging à la Seven.

Delcourt offers us here the beginning of a dark and intriguing saga. The publisher features stunning original covers by Dave Palumbo and Mike Mignola. We understand better the link with fantasy films with the commented sketches of the characters – Peter Cushing English actor specialist in horror inspired Church. Once the volume is closed, we can't wait to read more.