Dark Places: The Well of Stars & Dark Places: Hearts of Dragons by Steve Dismukes
Danger Orange Comics, b/w, 16pp/24pp
Reviewed by Selina Lock
Dark Places is set in a dying world most similar to the Mediaeval period. It follows the fortunes of those looking for solutions through ancient treasures or magic.
The Well of Stars sees a Magus, Initiate and Novice performing a rite at a sacred well in an attempt to turn the Initiate into an oracle. Things do not go to plan with painful consequences for some of the group.
Hearts of Dragons has a group of knights hunting for dragon in an abandoned mine. One of the knights, Evan becomes trapped inside the mine. He receives help from an unexpected source in exchange for killing the really dangerous creatures living in the mine. We also get flashbacks to Evan’s childhood and his links to the characters in The Well of Stars.
The series wears its Hellboy and Mike Mignola influences on its sleeve, from the stories it tells to the art style. For a small press comic, the production values are good, and although the artwork is not yet up to Mignola’s standard, it has potential. Dismukes makes good use of a blocky black and white style to create atmosphere and depict action. Recommended for those who like dark fantasy, or fancy supplementing their Hellboy/B.P.R.D reading. You can also read the stories in full via the webcomic version.
This review originally appeared in Prism, the newsletter of the British Fantasy Society.