cover image Xombi

Xombi

John Rozum & Frazer Irving. DC, $14.99 trade paper (160p) ISBN 978-1-4012-3346-4

Magical man-beasts constituted of dead wasps and primeval demons inhabit this ode to the supernatural. With nanotechnologist David Kim’s body inhabited by nanomachines that can cure any condition or repair any injury, Kim has become a Xombi—an immortal, nearly indestructible force for good, his condition likened to a genetically altered incarnation of primal magic. Called upon by a consortium of superpowered nuns and a mustachioed mage by the name of Julian Parker, Kim must combat an eclectic assortment of evildoers, first among them a jacked-up version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which could be dubbed Hyde and Hyder—the latter being an antediluvian creature called Maranatha whose ambition is solely to reduce the world to rubble. The story is all over the map and then off the borders, as this troupe of religiously inclined do-gooders then forays into space to take on the cryptic and Machiavellian Finch, who inhabits a massive skull orbiting the Earth. Though this book’s plot meanders at times, both the wickedly good art, which boasts a particularly colorful palette and atmospheric air-brushstrokes, and the florid imagination of author Rozum (Kobalt), carry the day. (Feb.)