Nomen Omen #1
Written by: Marco B. Bucci
Art by: Jacopo Camagni
Image Comics
2019
“TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART,” Part One
No matter how fast you run, sooner or later your past will catch up with you. Enter Becky Kumar, a geeky twenty-year-old from New York City who is about to cross the veil between our reality and a realm of otherworldly truths. From writer and RPG creator MARCO B. BUCCI (Magna Veritas, Memento Mori) and artist JACOPO CAMAGNI (X-Men Blue, Deadpool The Duck) comes a tale of tales, witchcraft, and secrets for mature readers that rewires the rules of urban fantasy. #doyouwannaknowasecret
While I certainly don’t expect a first issue to answer all the questions it asks, I can’t help but feel there’s enough questions packed into Nomen Omen #1 for at least two or three more issues. The book does very well at setting up exciting drama and tension, but just as things are getting good, it jumps to something else and leaves you hanging. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it feels overdone this time around, almost like everything had to be rushed.
But rushed to fit this huge story in the few pages of an introductory issue, but rushed because of a lack of quality. The elements of each section are well told, and each one serves to draw the reader deeper and deeper into what is actually going on in the big picture. The effect is just disjointed because everything happens so fast with so little resolution. I’m confident the resolution will come in time, but it makes one’s impressions a little hard to define. I feel jerked around a bit, getting interested in one conflict and investing myself in characters, just to have them mean nothing in a few pages.
At least the entire ride is a beautiful thing. The images are very well drawn, and the uses of color, or lack of colors, are fantastic. Without trying to give too much away, I love the idea that the colors we see are how the important characters see their own world, and it’s done to extra effect in this book. I do hope it’s more important to things overall than an excuse to go black and white though…
Still, wanting more of a good thing is a great sign for a new book, and I’m definitely left anxiously waiting for issue two. There’s tons of ideas to explore and very little negative to say about the book, so if the ideas of pagan orgies, virgin births, Death collecting on old debts, or someone surviving without a heart intrigues you at all, maybe this title is for you.
A Bit Scattered for a First Issue, but Leaves You Wanting More
The book is comprised of several different scenes and a few time jumps, creating a bit too much confusion for the reader to really get pulled in, but there's enough interesting here to leave you wanting more anyway.
Brian Reed
Brian has been reading comics since January, 1987, when the death of Optimus Prime rocked his young world. Once a regular presenter on The Nerdstravaganza Podcast, Brian now writes for Florida Geek Scene.
