Harvest #1 by AJ Lieberman & Colin Lorimer

Posted on Wednesday, 01 August 2012 - Written by Ray

Harvest brings us into the world of black market organs, which in itself is creepy as hell. Throw in a coked out surgeon, a mother and her kids, along with a shady figure or two and we’ve got ourselves a story that may just be too much for some people to handle.

Writer: AJ Lieberman

Artist: Colin Lorimer

Publisher: Image

Age: Mature Readers

 

AJ Lieberman is not a guy I’m overly familiar with, having only read his work in Cowboy Ninja Viking, which was over the top hijinks and crazy, but all done in a way that kept you wanting more. In Harvest he accomplishes the same feat as this comic is definitely a page turner, taking the black market world of organ sales and building a story around it. This comic doesn’t delve too much into the actual sale of the organs in question instead focusing on both the surgeons and the victims. We get a peek into some of the main players, but we still haven’t established sides and the full hierarchy of power. Lieberman writes some solid dialogue, whether it involves a burnt out mother, a victim pleading for his life or even a surgeon both in a real emergency room and a makeshift one. Nothing comes off sounding forced and everything flows perfectly from one page to the next even though we follow several character and have a couple of flashbacks.

While I have read some of Lieberman’s work, Colin Lorimer is a new name to me, but if this comic is his norm then I will be keeping an eye out for him. His art in this book is absolutely stunning, discomforting and engaging at the same time. The angles he picks and the way he sets up his foregrounds and backgrounds give such depth to every page that you can’t help but find yourself completely immersed in the comic. The eyes are also lifelike and expressive, making it feel as though the characters are watching you read, it’s something I rarely see done so well and again helps with the general atmosphere.

There are a couple of series that come to mind while reading this one: a TV show and the other a comic or manga to be more specific. The TV series that begs the obvious comparison is Dexter, but aside from the makeshift surgical locations, the similarities end there. The first thing that jumped to mind after putting this down is the amazing series Monster by Naoki Urasawa following a surgeon who is trying to catch a serial killer, it’s a dark psychological thriller and one of my personal favorites, so anytime I’m reminded of it it’s a good thing.

Both the art and the writing blew me away, and anyone who has the stomach for this type of book should do themselves a favour and grab a copy. Utterly creepy and thoroughly satisfying; this comic alone will make your trip to the shop worth it.