DC's Terrors Through Time #1 [Part Four] - DC Comics

DC'S TERROR THROUGH TIME No. 1, December 2022

As penultimate parables go in graphic novels, Matthew Levine’s “Blood Lost And Found” is utterly enchanting as it initially delves into the melancholy past of Jason Blood during Medieval times, and ends on a modern-day moment of satisfying revenge some five hundred years later; “It’s about time. Gone, gone, the form of Man…” Indeed, it’s a pity the intriguing ten-pager isn’t somewhat longer as the immortal trouble-shooter demonstrates some of the magical tricks he’s learnt from Merlin the Wizard whilst tracking down a party of hapless children stolen by a hungry giant demon.

Just as enticing as the penmanship is Jorge Corona’s mesmerising layouts, which really help add an extra shiver or two to the creative team’s storytelling courtesy of a chilling snowstorm stinging a local village and this tale’s formidably sized monster from Hell. The Venezuelan sequential artist also does an incredible job of depicting the love between young Emil and his temporarily distraught mother, as well as the brave boy’s faith in his knight when Etrigan materialises in a rattle of rhymes to save the day.

Arguably much more grisly-looking, thanks largely to Kelley Jones pencilling a plethora of baleful eyes and writhing tentacles throughout, is “The Haunting Of Wayne Manor” by Tim Seeley, which quite enthralling depicts what happens to the souls of those criminals who Batman’s son killed whilst under the malign influence of the lad’s grandfather Ra's al Ghul. Determined to have his revenge in the Afterlife, Hazaz Saber’s corrupted spirit from the Underworld looks like something straight out of a H.P. Lovecraft novel, and certainly seems to readily penetrate Damian’s usually steel-hard psyche with disconcerting ease.

In fact, debatably this adventure’s sole weakness lies in how the American author turns “The Robin” into a cowering kid who actually repeatedly pleads with the restless shade for his life. Such a bemusing characterisation of a cold-blooded killer is difficult to accept, and proves something of a frustrating disappointment, especially when coupled with the “Lemure” suddenly silently slinking off unsated simply because Deadman convinces the dead member of the Moroccan Mafia that a much more powerful menace has mysteriously laid claim to the adolescent’s soul.

The regular cover art to "DC'S TERRORS THROUGH TIME" #1 by John McCrea & Mike Spicer