A childhood brush with death left Victoria Addair with a blackened hand that has the power to slay the undead with a touch. Drafted into the Order of the Black Hand, Victoria is sent to an old mining town to slay a ghost – the Grey Boy – who haunts the mountainside. Soon Victoria learns that all is not as it appears and the secrets of the Grey Boy’s origin could save – or doom- them all.

Finally a graphic novel involving zombies that doesn’t take place in modern (or relatively modern), setting. The Black Hand combines more traditional fantasy elements, with cold ones (zombies) is a nice almost brilliant change of pace. Of course that being stated, this book has a decently, complex story featuring an almost religious group of zombie slayers, which is where the the title The Black Hand comes from.

I will admit, the armor design of the main character is a nice change of pace to the “standard,” fantasy armor for women. Of course the armor is a shared design by all the warriors of the novel. That gives the order a sense of unification, as they fight their various enemies. Even the world is well drawn despite the “cold” nature of the world.

Honestly, I wonder if they intend on continuing this series, or the world at the very least. It definitely has the possibility of making interesting stories, even if they don’t include zombies given the plethora of creatures you could replace them.

Story: Erica J. Heflin Artist: Fares Maese, Wes Locher, Jim MacQuarrie, James O’Callaghan
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

Alterna Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review