A one-shot story from Engine Comics, ‘Seer’ is the tale of an urban witch doctor called in to solve murder cases in his own unique way. Jonathan Parkes, the witch doctor in question can ‘see’ the last thing a murder victim sees at the point of death. The only drawback is, he has to taste the victim’s eyeballs to share the vision.

Nice.

He’s an uncanny ‘Cracker’ if you will, and the TV show comparison bears up in other ways - the strength of the writing, the pacing of plot twists, the believable characters.

One thing that is missing from the story however, is women. The absence is strongly felt as so much in the story relies on the protagonist’s relationship to his wife, it’s not enough that we are just told about her. We need to see her too, and this omission dents the credibility of the final line alluding to a sexual throb (though I’m trying not to include spoilers here)!

Gary Simpson’s writing is accompanied by deft artwork. From the opening foggy outline of Manchester, to the intricate lab scenes, to the brick fortresses of rows of terraced houses, Lee O’Connor’s artwork isn’t short on detail. Added to this, the more abstract art depicting the ‘vision’ scenes, fuses really well with the more gritty reality.

What lets the artwork down is the inking. It’s too spidery-thin and mechanical looking for such a chunky story about humanity in all its gross, indigestible glory.

My favourite thing about ‘Seer’, is that it’s so ugly - and I mean that as a compliment! This is professional looking stuff, yet no attempt has been made to slicken or prettify. The characters are ordinary blokes with weight problems, and this is so refreshing to see in a medium where chiseled jaws and manly brows still rule the roost.

All in all then, ‘Seer’ sets a high standard for small press crime fiction and is well worth the read.

Seer is by Gary Simpson and Lee O’Connor
Published by Engine Comics

£2 from Engine Comics Email: editor@enginecomics.co.uk.