Comic Review: The Devil’s Handshake

The Devil’s Handshake is a 48-page one-shot comic book released by Archaia. The comic is plotted by Ryan Schifrin, and is scripted by Ryan Shifrin and Larry Hama; artwork of the book is provided by Adam Archer and Lizzy John.

While The Devil’s Handshake is labeled as a one-shot, it is really the first in a series of oversized comics (or graphic novellas) featuring the adventures of the series’ protagonists, Basil and Moebius, with each ‘one-shot’ telling a standalone, and fully-contained story, which will also tie into the overall storyline.

The Story

(Spoiler free version from the dust jacket)

The comic features the adventures of two lovable treasure-hunters called Alaric Moebius & Basil Fox. Basil is one of the Queen of England’s Guards by day, and a thief by night. His partner-in-crime, Moebius, is an Oxford-educated charming rogue with a habit of getting in trouble.

When Moebius and Basil’s rich benefactor, a man known only as “The Collector”, blackmails them into stealing an ancient artifact for him, the duo must set out on a globe-trotting adventure in a race against time to obtain the artifact. From the depths of New Guinea jungle to the vast expanse of the Lybian desert, our intrepid heroes face everything from cannibal headhunters, undead assassins, and their own raging hormones in their impossible quest. With the penalty for failure a fate worse than death, the duo faces two choices: obtain the artifact, or succumb to The Devil’s Handshake!

The Rating

I have to confess that I didn’t pick up The Devil’s Handshake of my own volition. It was actually sent to me by those wonderful people over at Archaia Entertainment, and has been sat in my reading pile for about a week (I have a quite the backlog). I eventually got around to reading it last night, and my god, I wish I hadn’t waited so long, because this comic is worth every penny of it’s $5.95 cover price!

I must also confess to having no idea who Ryan Schifrin was when I picked up this book. The dust-jacket tells me however, that he is a critically acclaimed, award winning writer and director who made a popular film called Abominable, and also co-created the comic series Spooks with R.A. Salvatore. Now, of course, I’ll have to go look up both of these titles, because if this story is anything to go by, they’re set to be great! According to the extras at the back of the book Shifrin spent two years developing the look of Basil and Moebius, and the atmosphere and feel of the high adventure world they live in. Two years? That’s some serious dedication, and it really pays off, because Chifin has created a wonderfully fleshed out world full of action and adventure, where anything seems possible!

Schifrin co-scripts the issue with comics legend Larry Hama, who really needs no introduction. Together, the two create a wonderful tale, full of fascinating characters, thrilling action, and brilliant, amusing dialogue. These elements combine to produce an incredibly memorable story, that’ll keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end!

The artwork on the title is by Adam Archer and Lizzy John. I’d describes their style as, while not cartoony, definitely imbued with a spirit of fun and adventure. As such, it’s a perfect match for Schifrin and Hama’s fast-paced, pulse-pounding script. Archer and John do a great job of bringing these characters to life, nailing the lovable rogue look of Basil and Moebius, and the creepy look of the dastardly Ghoul Brothers.

In summary, The Devil’s Handshake is a thrilling adventure story, packed full of pulp fiction sensibilities in the spirit of Doc Savage and Indiana Jones. I often find when people try to make comics ‘fun’, the story just comes of cringe-worthy, but I have to admit that reading The Devil’s Handshake was an incredibly fun experience that really brought out kid in me, which is something we all need from time to time.

Rating:

The Devil’s Handshake was released on November 25th 2009, and should be available from all good comic shops. To see a -page preview of the book, please click here!