Hoax Hunters, Book One: Murder, Death, and the Devil

A lost astronaut comes back to earth embodied by a murder of crows. A demon roams the Pine Barrens seeking a perfect game of hide and seek. A mothman searches the world for the romance of rock and roll. In this new series, the creatures of nightmares are real, but a team of monster hunters is working very hard to cover them up in the most novel way possible: by exposing them as hoaxes on TV. While the concept of a team of monster hunters working to cover up supernatural events is inescapably reminiscent of BPRD comics (and countless others), the TV angle is an interesting twist, allowing Moreci and Seeley to create an atmosphere of mystery, while commenting on the absurdities of supernatural reality TV. The artwork changes with the aesthetic of each based on the story line. In a gritty post–Cold War spy story, the lines are heavy and anarchic; in a hilarious coda about a lonely mothman, it shifts to something reminiscent of the Sunday funnies. Overall Hoax Hunters: Book One is a promising start to a series that guarantees plenty of variety and humor mixed into its darker action. (Dec.)