Indie Comic Review: Westron #1

Detective and mentalist stories have seen a bit of an uptick in recent years, and it's not surprising why. Watching an intelligent protagonist chip away at a mystery is a lot of fun. There are a lot of different ways to tell these kinds of stories. Getting into the head of a Sherlock Holmes character can be interesting and engaging for the audience. Westron pulls it off nicely. It also has a fairly engaging hook to its first issue that sets up the detective for quite a journey. There's a lot the book could improve on, but the first issue is a decent enough start for the genre.

The story starts with two girls in the woods on their way to a party. One of them suddenly becomes possessed and slashes the throat of the other before wandering deeper into the forest. We are then introduced to Jan Westron, a detective who is called to the scene to investigate the murder and the other missing girl. After looking for clues in the forest, the story flashes back to Westron's youth, when one of his friends was accused of brutally murdering his girlfriend. 

The comic employs a neat detective tactic as Westron's heightened senses can focus on minute details to solve problems. It's a nice gimmick that puts the reader in Westron's head. Also, the inciting murder is interesting enough to elicit some engagement in the mystery. The first issue took a slow pace, but not too slow that it became boring. It was perfect... Right until the issue flashes back. I felt a first issue was too soon to get into Westron's backstory. There's still tons left to learn about the current mystery. I was much more interested in that than being taken out of the story and thrust into Westron's history. Other production values could use some work such as the art and lettering. All combined, there were a lot of areas to improve, but it's a strong enough detective story for fans of the genre to chew on.