DEPT. H #1 Review

DEPT. H #1 from Darkhorse Comics -

    Mia Hardy's father is dead. Hari Hardy, the most brilliant scientist on the planet, and founder of Dept. H, a deep sea research base, has been murdered seven miles under the surface of the ocean. No one knows why, but Mia is determined to find out. The base is so remote, it is all but impossible for the killer to have escaped, which means he, or she, is still down there. Six suspects await her arrival, all are familiar to Mia, including her ex-best friend, and her own brother. A brilliant scientist and astronaut herself, Mia means to put all of her considerable intelligence to work to bring her father's killer to justice...But Mia shouldn't forget that the hunter can soon become the hunted in such an enclosed, remote space where help is so far very away, and the killer is so very, very near. No mystery is as deep or dark as one at the bottom of the cold, cold ocean. 

     Matt Kindt is back again, and just as brilliant as ever. A modern master of the comics medium, Kindt, recruits his wife, Sharlene Kindt to bring the panels of this comic to gloomy life. Kindt writes a tight story, masterfully mixing exposition and character development with a forward moving story that is absolutely compelling. Kindt introduces the world these people inhabit, and he introduces each and every interesting character so well that the reader soon begins to investigate each suspect, right along with the protagonist. Sharlene Kindt's simple but expressive artwork and somber water-colors move the reader to experience the heft of the emotional weight on Mia's shoulders, and the physical pressure of being in the deepest, darkest parts of the ocean. This is a stellar beginning to genre-bending sci-fi/mystery whodunit. Sign me up. I can't wait to journey with Mia into the deep, and solve the mystery of who killed the smartest man on Earth.

RATING: 10 out of 10. DEPT. H is 20,000 leagues out of this world!