I Am Legion

The Nazis’ fascination with the occult is a storytelling well that will never run dry.  Here, we have them working with the source of an ancient power which was the basis for the Dracula mythos in order to gain the edge they need in WWII.  Writer Fabien Nury crafts an intricate tale of espionage that rewards close reading and re-reading as British Intelligence agents and resistance fighters try to figure out and stop the threat before it’s too late.  Though the overall story is good, its main flaws lie in the fact that the characters themselves come off as mere ciphers rather than real people (sadly, this seems to be a common trend in most graphic novels from Europe).  It’s further exacerbated by the dialogue which is best described as “functional”-- either Nury isn’t that good of a wordsmith, or whatever skill he had didn’t survive the translation. However, these flaws are mitigated by some truly fantastic art from John Cassaday.  His artistic skills are as complete a package as they come.  It’s at once absorbing to just take in the detail he gives to his characters and their environments, but he also has a superb command of body language and gives the characters a measure of emotional depth that the writing failed to convey.  The man can make just about any scene of talking heads look interesting... which is what he has to do for a lot of this volume.  Though there are a few cool scenes of action (supernatural and otherwise), there’s nothing here quite as fantastic as his work in “Planetary” and “Astonishing X-Men.”  He still manages to elevate the material, and that’s an achievement in itself.