Advance Review: Los Ojos
Funding on Zoop
Coming to Zoop tomorrow, Los Ojos is a new horror graphic novel from Trevor Mueller.
Andres Sanchez is a hitman for hire with a special ability - when he looks people in los ojos (the eyes) he doesn’t see them as human, he sees them as angels or demons. He believes demons walk among us disguised as people, and he uses his ability to select his targets, only killing those he thinks are monsters. But lately he’s started to question if his special sight is showing him the truth, or if he’s just crazy.
Haunted by the possibility that he may be killing people and not monsters, Andres now has to rethink his powers and his profession. At the same time, he’s balancing his crusade against evil while also taking on responsibilities as a surrogate father, all while secretly being hunted by the FBI, and a mysterious organization of assassins whose skills rival his own!
Los Ojos is a 132 page full color graphic novel for mature readers from award-winning writer Trevor Mueller and artist Francesco Iaquinta!
It’s John Wick meets John Constantine: one man with two guns fighting his demons both literal and imaginary!
I met Trevor a long time ago at, I think, the London Super Comic Con and I enjoyed chatting with him and checking out his story, Albert The Alien.
Well, Los Ojos is undoubtedly something different to that!
A gritty crime story with excellent supernatural elements, this has superb action and some interesting doubts as we follow it.
On the grounded side, first, we get a hitman who only targets monsters. What constitutes a monster is part of the supernatural element; we will get to that later. The targets are not nice people; they have ways and means to defend themselves. This makes for some excellent action sequences and full-on events as the fights continue.
Andres Sanchez is not the be-all and end-all in this story, though, and there is an excellent cast of characters to get into and enjoy. The FBI, chasing him down, make an exciting couple with their issues between them. The addition of a third member of their team was exciting and linked nicely with the broader story.
There are also family and client elements supporting Andres Sanchez. These have their own stories to tell and dip in and out of the larger story. I do like that there isn’t just a faceless screen offering these jobs; it adds to the who aspect of the story.
The supernatural elements are excellent - although you do get that great element of doubt about what you see in the story. There is a possibly unreliable narrator, and that adds to the tension and storytelling.
I really enjoy the dark, gritty aspect of the art, with some brilliant action aspects and the evil seeping out of the panels in some cases. The colouring and lettering add to the overall tone. The supernatural parts are brilliantly done and look terrifying.
This is an excellent story; for those of you who enjoy crime and the more horror aspects, it is certainly for you!
