Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
The Tattered Man #1 (one shot)
Image Comics
Palmiotti, Gray, Fernandez & Tortolini
The Tattered Man one shot provides all the entertainment you would expect from a Palmiotti/Gray comic book. Whatever the genre the story is set in, you know going in that you will get interesting characters and strange situations that put them to the test. Usually their creations also sprinkle in some of the aspects that they seem to enjoy, such as World War II. The Tattered Man is mostly a horror comic, but it also is a bit of a sole searching type of story as Palmiotti notes at the back of the book. Overall, it is an entertaining read and worth checking out if you are fans of the creators or if you looking for something unique to come out of the horror genre.
The setup to the story is that three hoodlums looking to score some cash for drugs break into an old man's house on Halloween demanding money. The old man makes his case that he has no money so they search the house and discover a mysterious box with a swastika on it. When they attempt to open it the old man tells the origin of the box's contents in hopes that they would leave the box alone.
We learn that the old man is a holocaust survivor and while he was a prisoner the war ended and Germans were out to terminate everyone in the camp. A mysterious collection of bandages took over and wiped out all of the Nazis. The boy took the scrapes with him when the Allies arrived at the camp. Now, decades later, the tatters live in the box to be called on when needed.
The robbery goes badly when others show up at the house. The result is the tatters become free and look for a new host.
This book is a fast and good read. Sure, there are familiar elements in here that are reminiscent of movies like Pumpkinhead and any other horror movie where revenge is at the heart of the story but this is unique because it crosses generations and really presents no true protagonist.
This is where the book falls short for me. It feels like the book ends just as the story is getting started. I was surprised when I realized I had reached the ending. I'm not sure if this was intended to be a mini-series or the page count was initially to be longer but it just seemed to end just as the "hero" was just getting started when this issue ends.
I loved the artwork. It's not easy to bring something different to the horror genre in comic books but Fernandez did. His flashback scenes definitely captured the nightmare of the holocaust and turned it up a notch when the tatters are freed. I enjoyed these scenes the most in the book. I also have to give Fernandez a lot of credit for the detailed design of the Tattered Man transformation. It just looks very powerful visually.
The Tattered Man was a fun read. Was it worth the five dollar cover charge for about thirty-five pages of story? Maybe, maybe not, especially in the current market, but if you take a chance on it you will most likely enjoy it. I think if you like World War II, revenge stories, or just horror in general you should pick this up.
3 out of 5 Geek Goggles
