Review -- LEPRECHUAN

Leprechaun
Written by Zach Hunchar
Art by Kris Carter
Bluewater Comics
Leprechaun is a story readers will at least be familiar with on some level given the character is drawn from the world of movies. Leprechaun is a Lions Gate film property, one of the horror tales which has made it to the big screen.
With the comic version, at least after having read issue #3 of the series, the story line is not heavily horror. The art as well is far from dark, or with a horror mood.
The storyline here is far more mainstream, with the Leprechaun character appearing more as a hero, fighting old tribal enemies set against a modern city landscape.
The storyline is interesting, although I will hedge that by reiterating I have seen only one issue, part way into the storyline.
Writer Zach Hunchar said the idea for the story inspiration was twofold.
“There is the easy answer and then there is the more complex answer,” he said. “The easy one is this series was pulled directly from the horror film franchise of the same name from Lions Gate Films.
“The more complex answer developed from numerous conversations from publisher Darren Davis and myself. We began working with one another when we were both working for Lions Gate so there was shared history involving the characters. We wanted to be as true as possible to our time there but also wanted to create something that lent itself to a mini- or ongoing-series.”
The characters developed at different paces through the creation process, said Hunchar.
“It varied by character. The hardest was the Leprechaun (named Iubdan) himself,” he said. “It was incredibly challenging maintaining the violent and horrific tendencies of the film version, yet finding subtle facets of the character that might show some vulnerability and regret. With a self-contained story, you are less interested in finding a hook to get the reader/viewer to come back again. With serialized stories, little bursts of chaos will eventually bore the reader.
“The human protagonists start out with sort of stereotypical attributes but we worked very hard to have them grow and evolve. We're talking small movement but enough to avoid the sense of stagnation.”
As for the art by Kris Carter, it is clean and crisp, especially for the fantasy races in the story. The look of the humans works a bit less for me.
Still, overall, I think the art works for the way the story line is being developed.
Hunchar said he sees places he could have improved the book, but being a creative person that is always the case.
“From a creative stand-point, I think I'm like most creative types I'm never finished tweaking it. That being said, I think it's still very cool,” he said.
There is more story to be told too.
“Well, I think that there are more adventures ahead with them trying to beat the newest curse placed upon the Leprechaun. Plus more humor and a bit of romance thrown in,” said Hunchar.
The story blends the existing world we live in, and fantasy world of the Leprechaun very smoothly. It is the strength of the story.
Certainly worth checking it out at www.bluewaterprod.com
-- CALVIN DANIELS

-- Appeared on Yorkton This Week WebXtra