Burning Fields #7 (of 8)
Authors: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Artist: Colin Lorimer
After barely escaping the massacre of Carapace troops by the now Asag-controlled Decker and Verge, Dana and Aban find solace with Aban’s family.
The X-Files was a show of a generation, that not only redefined science fiction, but also showed writers everywhere how not to only world build but how to create a proper mythology. The mythology that was created was so dense that it carried over onto not one spinoff series but two. The first series, Lone Gunmen, carried on the adventures of the show’s comic relief, which lasted a singular season. The other was Millennium, which lasted longer, and in some respects, shared a similar dynamic of the shared universe, that Joss Whedon’s Angel had with Buffy.
I remembered watching the show when it was on TV and being mesmerized by its premise, as it had all the conspiracy thriller elements along with supernatural tinglings, enough to make the show intriguing. For newcomers, the show centered on Frank Black, a freelance forensic profiler and former FBI agent with a paranormal ability to see the world through the eyes of serial killers and murderers, though he contends that he has no psychic powers and worked for the mysterious Millennium Group, who had their own agendas. I was in heaven watching this TV show, as the only show that has come close since its cancellation is Rubicon, minus the supernatural elements.
Within IDW’s ongoing series, Frank Black’s wife, Catherine, has been killed, the Millennium Group gets dissolved, and his daughter, Jordan and he become estranged. Within the first few pages Fox Mulder is at a parole hearing in Terre Haute, Indiana, for someone him and Black put behind bars. We end up catching up with Frank, as he catches up with Monte Propps and Legion, who all have something to do with the Millennium Group while at the same time, Frank deals with his guilt over Catherine being killed. Ultimately, Frank, Jordan and Mulder team up for a whirlwind battle against Legion to end this arc.
The story by Joe Harris has all the inkling and quirks of the original show while telling a story that is contemporary. The art by Colin Lorimer, compliments the story in the best way possible while bringing something aesthetically beautiful. This is definitely a story for the hardcore fans and fans of conspiracy theorists. Overall, a welcome throwback, to a time where a story like this had no copycats, this is a true original.
Story: Joe Harris Art: Colin Lorimer
Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy
IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Burning Fields #6 (of 8 )
Writers: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Artist: Colin Lorimer
In the wake of the assault on Carapace’s headquarters, Dana and Aban arrive to investigate what happened to their allies, while Renfro, the killer who is the focus of the manhunt, stalks their every move.
Titan Comics has revealed that this year’s San Diego Comic Con (July 9-12, 2015) sees the debut of The Blacklist comic series with a special SDCC themed cover!
Drawn by artist Colin Lorimer, this special SDCC exclusive cover features the formidable Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington, as played by James Spader!
The comic series is penned by Nichole Phillips and drawn by Beni Lobel and developed in conjunction with The Blacklist TV series from Sony Pictures Television. The first arc (Issues 1-5) will feature stories which expand upon the events of the TV series and feature all the major characters from the show, including the formidable Raymond ‘Red’ Reddington, played by James Spader, along with characters Lizzie, Donald Ressler, Dembe and others.
The Blacklist #1 SDCC exclusive cover will be available to pick up at Titan’s booth #5537.
Burning Fields #5 (of 8)
Authors: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Artist: Colin Lorimer
When their protection goes up in flames, Dana and Aban find themselves completely on their own in search of the serial killer. They’re forced to go straight for Renfro, which means infiltrating an area controlled by terror groups and arms dealers. Little do they know, Asag’s newest ally is someone very familiar.
Burning Fields #4 (of 8 )
Authors: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Artist: Colin Lorimer
Dana and Aban chase down leads through a series of tunnels far from any military base, unaware that Decker and the PMCs are headed the same way, ready for a showdown. But the real threat is something far more sinister than any of them could have imagined.
Burning Fields #3 (of 8)
Authors: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Artist: Colin Lorimer
Just as Dana learns a secret about Aban that upends the murder investigation, the tensions between the Iraqi populace and the Verge PMC reach a fever pitch, giving the killer a perfect opportunity to strike.
Burning Fields #2 (of 8 )
Authors: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Artist: Colin Lorimer
As new murders arise across the oilfields of Iraq and their surrounding cities, strange alliances form. Dana and Aban delve into one another’s pasts in the search for the killers, while Verge, the private military company that blocks Dana and Aban at every turn, makes its own inroads on the case.
One of the most interesting developments of literature in the 20th century was that of the war narrative. Previous to the First World War, stories about war were told from the commanders, the generals, colonels and majors (maybe sometimes a captain) and mixed in equal parts of grand strategy with personal recollections of leading men into battle. After the First World War, aided in part with the easy access to printing technology, the random grunts were for the first time allowed to write and print the stories about what life was like on the front lines. The most famous was Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, but there were others as well. The common theme among them was that war was not as glorious as it was made out to be, and that it scars those that it doesn’t leave behind. It is with this backdrop that the new series Burning Fields starts off with, though with a modern twist, as its heroine is forced back to the fields of the Iraq war which she wanted to leave behind and forget. There lies hidden some insinuation of atrocities that were committed, which complicates things for her.
All of this takes place in a setting which is not even necessarily related to this part of the story, but which adds depth to its characters. This series was described as Zero Dark Thirty meets The Thing (John Carpenter, not Ben Grimm), and by the end of this first issue it is channeling a lot of the former and a little bit of the latter. With this as a backdrop it makes the horror setting all the more real, as supposedly a serial killer is on the loose in a highly protected oilfield in Iraq, one protected by a mercenary black ops group that is Blackwater in everything but name. She has issues with their leader, but she goes anyway to find out the truth, in a place where she might need more than a few answers.
This series is a little bit under the radar but it shouldn’t be. Once again proving that a lot of the smaller publishers have the mettle to play with the bigger companies, the story here is engaging and immersive. Its main character is never really at ease being back in the war torn country, but then so too the reader shouldn’t be easy reading it. At this stage it is hard to see exactly where this story is headed, whether that be towards a techno-thriller or supernatural gore, but with the strong introduction to the characters and the setting, there is little more to ask for here. In what is an otherwise slower week across the medium, comic fans might want to give this one a look as it looks to be a cut above the usual.
Story: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel Art: Colin Lorimer
Story: 9 Art: 9 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy
BOOM! Studios provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review.
Burning Fields #1 (of 8 )
Authors: Michael Moreci & Tim Daniel
Artist: Colin Lorimer
New series!
Dana Atkinson, a dishonorably discharged army investigator, is pulled back to the Middle East when a group of American oil technicians disappear under bizarre circumstances. With the help of an Iraqi investigator, what Dana discovers is unimaginable: a series of unusual incidents at the drill site lead her and her unlikely ally to discover a mythic evil that has been released, one that threatens both the lives of the entire region and the fragile peace that exists.)
The team that brought you one of the best-reviewed comics of 2014 returns in 2015 to create a new horror tale unlike any other. A geopolitical drama with monster mythos, Burning Fields is a story for both fans of Zero Dark Thirty and The Thing, as the writers of Roche Limit and Enormous explore the evil that lurks when greed drives one to drill too deep into the unknown.
