Wild Rover and The Sacrifice is a one-shot published by Dark Horse Comics written by Michael Oeming, who (if you’re crazy enough to read all of my stuff from Toy-TMA as well as my stuff here) you might remember as being responsible for my favourite part of Avengers Disassembled back from his days at Marvel. Oeming now works mostly for Dark Horse, and over the last few months, he’s written several pieces for the Dark Horse Presents anthology series (here are the RSC reviews for issues 21 and 22) that have earned him critical acclaim. Two of them, “Wild Rover” and “The Sacrifice” have now been gathered together into this one-shot. There’s nothing new for those who have followed the anthology series in recent years, but should those who haven’t snap up these stories? Let’s find out.
First up is “Wild Rover”, a story about a man suffering from acute alcoholism. The first time I read it, I found the story to be a tad underwhelming, as the story seemed to try to balance quite a few different elements in a way that didn’t quite come together given the short length of the story. Upon a second reading, however, I found it to be a brilliant use of the unreliable narrator. Essentially, Oeming takes a very literal interpretation of the metaphor of fighting the demon in the bottle, and the other mystical elements introduced should be taken with heaping piles of salt. When read this way, “Wild Rover” made a lot more sense, and I found myself really enjoying the story the second time around. It definitely leaves itself open to sequels, which may be why this book is getting a release in the first place (determining interest levels before green lighting a series is standard practice for Dark Horse). It was strong enough to make me want to come back for more, as the series definitely has promise.
The art on this first tale is also incredible. Oeming really does a great job of capturing the creepy, dirty aspects of alcoholism. You really feel the inevitability of the protagonist’s fall through the dark colouring and dreary facial expressions. The art really captures the essence of the piece, perfectly reflecting the narration present on the page both in form and design. Also, the demons look badass. Just saying.
“The Sacrifice”, on the other hand, is a very pretty waste of space. It’s clear the story was included to create a reasonable page count to justify the $2.99 cover price, but since it was included in Dark Horse Presents before, I don’t think it deserves any sort of free pass. The idea is fine: a boy and his master visit a tree with mystical properties, and betrayal ensues. But this kind of story only works if there’s any context presented. The following things are not mentioned anywhere within the comic itself: where the main characters are from, who they are as people, what motivates them, how a blade can make a man immortal, who the dwarf lords are, who the elf lords are, either side’s motivations, why the betrayal occurred, what benefit the betrayer has in hurting the betrayed, and why the dwarf lords will be pleased by this, why the tree attacked and how it can do that, and, most importantly, why I should care about any of this. Some of that is nitpicking, but a lot of that is very vital. Without context, this comic is little more than an attempt to shock the reader (highlight to see spoiler) with a child’s death, and I had no reason to get emotionally invested. Maybe these are recurring characters from other books that I haven’t read, but this is a one shot, and I’m suppose to be able to read the story without any background information and enjoy myself. This was just empty space.
Now, I know what you’re thinking: I’m clearly being too harsh to the story, expecting character development and background information when the story only had 8 pages to develop. First of all, given three pages were spent on the character’s slow motion death sequence, there was definitely room for more story. But more importantly, we’ve seen writers do much better in the past. Mike Mignola’s “The Tank” from Baltimore: The Widow and the Tank (which I reviewed here) had the same number of pages, yet created a detailed, complex story with a moral and true purpose. Oeming is capable of better than he put into “The Sacrifice”, and I’m honestly disappointed with the story presented.
That said, I did mention above that it is a rather pretty waste of space. Victor Santos earns his featuring credit with a unique art style that I couldn’t help but enjoy. It’s very cinematic, which is inevitably going to turn off some readers, but I personally enjoyed it. I could really see the scene playing out in my head, which is about all I can ask from comic art. It’s not enough to make me like the story, but I am glad it’s there.
Wild Rover and The Sacrifice by Michael Oeming is the definition of a mixed bag. The first story is either glorious and everything one could hope from the comic or a slightly jumbled mess depending on your interpretation of the narrator, and the second is empty of all purpose. If you’ve read Dark Horse Presents #14 and #15, you’ve already read “Wild Rover” and don’t need to buy this book. If you haven’t, I think that story alone is worth the $2.99 cover price. So overall, a conditional recommendation. If you like Oeming, you’re in for a treat with “Wild Rover”.
Chase Wassenar is the Lead Editor and Founder of the Red Shirt Crew. He really wishes “The Sacrifice” had some context, because he’d really like to know what’s going on there. You can read his other articles at ToyTMA, follow him on Twitter at @RedShirtCrew, or email him at theredshirtcrew@gmail.com.
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