Woof, fellow bear nerds!

James here – Today. we’re talking about the first issue of Bludgeon, the comic series produced by our woofy buddy Jeremy Owen. Let’s go!

We’ve talked to Jeremy before, when we interviewed him about Bludgeon. At the time, he had just finished issue #0, where he introduced us to Mike, a misterious man who arrives at the city of Albuquerque, NM, in search of...something. In that issue, we meet Mike, Alice the barista, and get a vague inkling of what is to come.

In this issue, we find Mike, or rather, Bludgeon, already settled in the city, in what seems like a routine patrol that doesn’t seem to be getting very fruitful. He meets a homeless man in the woods around town, they chat for a bit and then things get real ugly.

While #0 is firmly focused on introducing us to Bludgeon and his enviroment, #01 gives us a good dose of action. There’s a some moments that pack genuine tension, and a couple of really cool fights. Oh, and an intriguing clifhanger at the end. The “horror story” vibe of Bludgeon #01 is another really nice aspect of the comic. At our interview with him, Owen told us about his love for horror movies and how they influence his work. That influence is really evident here, and I for one liked it very much.

However, the last third of the comic relaxes the mood a bit, and give the reader a light humour moment that I found very well played, with the introduction of Alice, the oversharing barista from #0, to the story. By the way, I’m already a fan of hers.

What I liked most in this issue, however, was how much Jeremy Owen’s art developed from the previous issue. His style was already very strong in #0, but here he’s using bolder, stronger lines, hitting it outta the park with the facial expressions and handling pacing and page layout really, really well. I also got a real feeling of consistency from the city of Albuquerque (or at least, the Albuquerque as depicted in the comic). With its short buildings and wide streets, it “solidifies” itself in the reader’s mind.

And that’s it for now, folks. We look forward to the next issues of Bludgeon – Jeremy Owen’s doing a bang up job, and it’s bound to get even better. You can buy the comics directly from the author website at  www.burlypress.com. Go for it!