Posted by Sean in Comics, Reviews on November 6th, 2009

To say Top Cow’s new title Tracker is a werewolf comic doesn’t seem quite fair; it doesn’t really capture the scope of the thing. It would be more accurate to call this a gritty, character-driven police drama… with werewolves in it.

The book, which hits stores next Wednesday, follows Alex O’Roark, an FBI agent who is tracking a mass murderer who appears to be something  more than human. When he gets caught in, one of the killers attacks himself, he barely escapes with his life – and leaves part of his humanity behind. Suddenly, Alex finds himself manifesting new abilities and urges of a decidedly animal nature. His sense of smell is super-humanly sharp; he’s got a shorter temper and a lust for violence; he’s agile and durable enough to survive a 5-story leap while tracking his attacker.

What’s nice about this book is that writer Jonathan Lincoln makes us aware of these manifestations, of the change that Alex is going through – but they’re not really the point. Certainly, they have a major impact on events, but what the story really centers on is how this will affect his life. His job, his friendship with his partner, the no-nonsense Jezebel Kendall, his relationship with his girlfriend (whom he’s proposed to seven different times)… how will these things be affected by the changes taking place in Jonathan? How will he deal with it? How will they deal with him? By letting the monster mythology itself form a backdrop, Lincoln brings these personal issues front-and-center; if character-driven stories are up your alley, this is the horror comic for you.

But don’t let that convince you that there’s not some horrifying stuff here. As soon as you flip to page 2, you’re given a stark introduction to how brutal this book is – and exactly what kind of killer they’re trying to hunt down. Kudos to artist Francis Tsai for crafting a style that feels appropriately gritty and noir-ish, with just enough of a cartoony edge to give an otherworldly feel to the proceedings. You’ll see what I mean on the very first page, and a lot of it has to do with some excellent color choices. Jonathan Lincoln’s done a pretty good job putting the story together, and the dialogue has its shining moments, but this book would be missing something if it didn’t look so incredibly cool.

Tracker is not for the weak of heart. But then, show me a werewolf story that is for the weak of heart, and I’ll show you a crappy werewolf story. If you’re looking for a gritty new twist on horror comics, Tracker may be exactly what you’ve been hunting for.