Breath of Bones: A Tale of Golem - COMIC REVIEW

Let me start off by saying I am by no means a comic aficionado. I haven't read every comic out there. I don't make it a habit to attend comic cons nor have I gone out of my way to meet writers or artists in that field. I am a comic book rookie. In fact, after a particularly bad incident at one comic store, I almost decided it wasn't for me at all. But I stayed with it and I have been doing my share of reading lately. I can say for sure that I definitely have some favorites and some not so favorite. If you follow me on Twitter, you've probably already guessed who is who by now. Regardless... Have fun and rejoice in my first ever COMIC BOOK REVIEW.

Every year we host a film festival where people donate items to a silent auction which are then sold off for charity. Last year, we received a book called Freaks of the Heartland by Steve Niles. It got to us a little late so we weren't able to auction it and so it sat there for a bit, waiting for it's turn. Me, never really having an interest in comics, didn't pay much attention to it but as we were preparing for our 2013 festival, there it was... still waiting. I decided to give it a go and I was pretty amazed and taken aback by the story and the artwork which of course, led me to wanna know more about this Niles character. It was then that I came across Breath of Bones.

Breath of Bones is set during World War II and focuses on a small Jewish village whose men have all gone off to war leaving only the women, children and elderly to fend for themselves. The story focuses on the relationship between Noah and his Grandfather as Noah struggles to deal with his Father going off to war. When a plane crash lands near the village, Noah insists they help the injured pilot which puts the entire community in the sights of the Nazi soldiers. Backed against a wall with nowhere to go, Noah's Grandfather gathers the villagers to help summon the creature of Jewish folklore... the Golem.

After seeing the artwork and briefly looking over the synopsis, I can say that the finished product is nothing like I'd imagined. It's a beautifully crafted story that easily grabs your attention from the very first page. You're drawn into Noah's world, you witness the loss of his innocence to hate and war but yet he still manages to keep his sincerity and sense of right and wrong. It's a very simple story told in a very elegant way. Writers Niles and Matt Santoro have turned me.

And the artwork... O-M-G the artwork by Dave Wachter is simply stunning... amazing... phenomenal. I'm not sure what else I can say about it other than that. Except maybe that I'll be looking up Wachter now to see more of his work. Yay comics!!

It's a process people, hang in there with me... I'm coming around. With comics like Breath of Bones, it won't take much to get me there either.

I'm looking forward to the third and final installment which is set to release on August 14. Pre-order now at TFAW.com.