Review -- WITCH DOCTOR: New Strains

Witch Doctor: New Strains
Art by Lukas Ketner
Written by Brandon Seifert

Witch Doctor: New Strains is an interesting book simply because of the approach the creators have taken in producing the title.
Most comic titles are of course episodic in nature. They start a story in one issue, and that story arc progresses over a number of issues.
And, of course there is what comic fans know as a one-shot, a story told in one issue, an issue which is generally thicker, having more pages than the general comic book.
Witch Doctor fits neither mold.While the Witch Doctor title will be produced over a number of issues, each one is a stand-alone story. However, writer Brandon Seifert is keeping the stories short. The book weighs in at only eight pages.
It is interesting how Seifert manages a rather nifty little medical horror tale in only pages, in this case one dealing with a golem. The problem though is that in eight pages one only gets the most rudimentary charact
er development. Frankly I don't end up knowing much about the doctor here, and so I am not sure whether I like him, or not.
Lesser light supporting characters are even less developed, and become pretty unmemorable as a result.With anything that asks you to dole out cash on a regular basis, there has to be a connection. In eight pages you don't get much of one here. Now I will note this is the second stand-alone book, so if you have both you might start to grow some affinity for the cast of characters. The question is would I buy issue 2, after reading only eight pages?
To be honest it would be a tough decision, and Witch Doctor could easily get scratched off the list if I was a collector on a budget.Brandon Seifert sees the shorter books as a way to grab readers and build a following as he develops his own skills in the medium.
“Witch Doctor: First Incision was the first comic both Lukas and I did. And as for the page count, I think biting off more than you can chew is the biggest mistake a comics creator can create when they're starting out,” said Seifert. “Doing a short story with a definite beginning, middle and end is less work than doing a long-form story, it takes less time, it's more accessible for readers (and for editors, too), and it means you can really focus on making the entire thing good. I think a few well-done short stories can go an amazing distance towards starting a career and building a fan base.”
From Seifert's perspective it has worked.
“I honestly had ridiculously high expectations for how well Witch Doctor was going to do... and it turns out I was actually underestimating things,” he said. “The response has been amazing. We've gained a bunch of fans, we've got the attention of publishers, we've both received praise from some of our biggest artistic influences, and we've made friends with the creators of some of our favourite comics. Plus, we've both received some paying work in the comics field just based on the strength of th
e first Witch Doctor issue — and Lukas got nominated for the Russ Manning Outstanding Newcomer Award, which is being given out at the Eisner Award ceremony at Comic-Con (last weekend).”
Seifert said the stories for the series draw from the inspiration of a number of well know horror franchises.
“For Witch Doctor the inspiration is partly the sort of horror and dark fantasy Lukas and I each like — Hellboy, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Goon, Lovecraft — and partly how bizarre the world of biology is when you really study it in depth,” said Seifert. “The fact that the skin of a tapeworm is basically like one of our intestines, only turned inside out? That's great inspiration for a horror comic. Combining the sickest things in biology with standard monsters from horror fiction is the biggest inspiration for the project.”
As a writer Seifert said he also has various inspirations.
“As a writer, there are a bunch of creators who inspire me: Warren Ellis, Joss Whedon, Matt Fraction, Dou
glas Adams, Neal Stephenson,” he said. “But beyond that, what influences my writing is the sorts of things that interest me in the world. Writing is the one thing that unifies all my interests, so something like Witch Doctor doesn't just stem from things I've read, it comes out of the appeal I find in Victorian architecture, the aesthetics of abandoned buildings, the eccentricities of cities I've visited, and lots of other details that have caught my eye.”
As for the artwork, Lukas Ketner does a wonderful job of proving the book with an Edwardian-era feel. The doctor has a sort of 1940s film look, in part due to the black and white art which is very appropriate for a soft horror title.
“In the case of Witch Doctor, the project was conceived as something specifically for Lukas and I to do together — so the whole thing was designed with Lukas' style in mind,” said Seifert. “We discussed a number of ideas when we first decided to try working together, and Witch Doctor was the one that stuck for both of us. It plays to both of our strengths, especially Lukas' heavily retro-horror-influenced art style”
The art draws you, but the story comes off a little thin for me. Definite talent though which begs for a bigger book to really shine.There are more stories planned for the title.
“We're also continuing to work on Witch Doctor; we plan to continue releasing short, self-contained stories spotlighting different medical interpretations of traditional horror tropes. (The next three stories we've got line up feature a riff on The Exorcist, a story based on well-known European folklore, and a piece inspired heavily by the concepts and ambiance of H.P. Lovecraft.) Ideally, the future will feature a mix of Witch Doctor and non-Witch Doctor work,” said Seifert.
The first, 16-page story is available at www.witchdoctorcomic.com, and more stories will be appearing there in the coming months. You can also find them on MySpace (www.myspace.com/drvincentmorrow) and on Twitter (www.twitter.com/drvincentmorrow

-- CALVIN DANIELS

-- Appeared on Yorkton This Week WebXtra