One of the things that has amazed me in the months that The Comics Herald has been running, is the level of quality in independent and smaller company comics. My colleague Sean reviewed Hoodlum #1 from Hilary Goldstein back in March, and he’s back with a very different title this time. The Golem #1 is also from Alterna Comics and is a 4-part mini-series launching tomorrow on Comixology.

The story is set in a future Paris and centres around a mother (Danya Ben-El’azar) and her son Jonah. The mother just happens to be a highly trained former covert military type, and her young son works alongside her to form the team know as The Golem. Danya’s a good-hearted vigilante who’s willing to shed some blood where needed, and once her back-story is revealed you can see why she’s in that position.

The back-story itself is efficiently told and holds interest throughout. The overall story arc is interesting and I’m definitely keen to see what happens after the first issue’s cliffhanger. The backdrop of Paris is also well written in and provides some great ambience to the story, plus it’s great to see a story like this set outside of the United States or a fictional city. The dialogue is crisp and moves the story along nicely. I’m actually caring about Danya and her son and I like that their lives are painted starkly, reflecting the ambiguous situation they are in.

Art-wise, I love Giovanni Timpano’s work here – it’s a perfect fit for the story and he does a brilliant job of defining key locations with colour (the purples for the safety of home being the more obvious one). It’s just plain nice to look at throughout and Garry Brown’s cover is worth hanging on a wall.

The Golem is off to a cracking start and I’m hanging out for #2 before #1 even hits Comixology. I also regret I was unaware of the Kickstarter campaign that got this book made – I would have more than happily kicked in for a TPB of this. So do check it out on Comixology tomorrow – it’s a very engaging read indeed.