Revenger stories are a dime a dozen. A bad man gets wronged by some worse men and decides to tear through their organization to take them down. You know the drill, you’ve seen it or read it a million times. So credit where it’s due: Justin Jordan and Chris Shehan find an entirely fresh take on the revenge genre in Oni Press‘s new book Mine Is A Long, Lonesome Grave #1.
In the issue, we meet a man named Harley Creed, newly released from prison, who wants to settle his debts and move on. Naturally, that doesn’t square right with the local criminal elements who want him to pay for what he did, years earlier. Do they attack him? Spoilers, I guess, but yes. Does he fight back? You know it.
The twist here is that Jordan includes off-hand folk magic in the Appalachian setting that everyone sort of understands is naturally part of the world. We’re not talking wizard battles so much as Blair Witch-style spells and darkness, and the way Jordan casually integrates it into the narrative as a given is eerie, unsettling, and ultimately brutal. That last part you can credit to Shehan’s designs which give the whole affair a grounded, lived-in feel.
Also, credit to the team for slowly unfurling the relationships between Harley and the other main characters. There’s a confidence in the way we’re watching events unfold that makes this feel like a story that’s been going on for a long time; we’re just cutting in on season 3 or 4 of the TV show.
Did I mention it’s brutal? It is. The violence here is sudden and shocking, as are the scenes of folk magic and horror. This is the sort of book where you know it starts badly, and will end worse than that… Nobody is getting out clean with a happy ending, least of all our ex-con “hero.”
In the grand scheme of things, this is a killer kick-off to Oni’s slate of originals debuting in the first half of the year, and a statement piece about how the publisher will be tackling genre tales: embracing them with expert writers and artists who know enough to dive into tropes while pushing the ideas inherent forward.
Mine Is A Long, Lonesome Grave #1 hits stores on February 12, 2025 from Oni Press.
Mine Is A Long, Lonesome Grave #1 Rating:
Mine Is A Long, Lonesome Grave #1 Official Synopsis:
Eisner and Harvey Award–nominated writer Justin Jordan (The Strange Talent of Luther Strode, Dead Body Road) and #1 best-selling artist Chris Shehan (House of Slaughter) throw a brass-knuckled gut punch of revenge-horror torn from the forgotten corners of Appalachia, where magic and murder go hand in hand. . .
Harley Creed is a bad man. He used to be worse. A violent ex-con with a string of brutal crimes in his past, he only wanted one thing when he finally walked free from prison: to leave Briar Falls, WV, behind and disappear forever. But Harley’s hometown has a strange way of swallowing people whole—call it a consequence of the low-level folk magic that has permeated its darker corners for generations. And now that Harley has returned, pent-up vengeance for his past crimes is about to come roaring back. Somebody has put a hex on him—and Harley has seven days before he dies in twisted, screaming agony.
To reverse it, Harley must find and kill his unseen enemy before their curse can reap its terrible end. But in Briar Falls, there’s no shortage of suspects—and Harley is coming for them all. If can’t have peace, at least he can have revenge.
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