It's always good to start off the year with something new. Something that caught your eye and you figured you'd take a chance on. Or perhaps you're looking for something new to read to kick off the new year. Well, here at Comic Addicts we've found something new and we're going to share it with you.Back on November 12 at the Coast City Comic Con in Portland, Maine we got talking to a couple of interesting chaps who are completely into cryptozoology. Their names are Todd Dezago and Craig Rousseau. These two created The Perhapanauts. After talking to them and their love of cryptozoology (the study of mythical and folklore creatures such as Big Foot, Mermaids, and Mothmen to name a few) they suggested we check out their book. Which of course we bought the graphic novel Dark Days after getting them to sign it.
If you're a fan of Hellboy, you'll enjoy The Perhapanauts. It's about a secret government agency BEDLAM aka The Bureau of Extra-Dimensional Liabilities And Management. These folks look for rips in the space time dimensional fabric that could allow something to come through that shouldn't. They then asses the situation and correct it as they detain whatever it was that got through the rip.
Of course it's the characters that really make the story. In the case of The Perhapanauts it's the Blue Team. The Blue Team contains quite the cast of characters. There is Arisa the Blue Team leader who is a powerful psychic. Then there's MG who is a slider which means he can slide between dimensions. There is also Molly who is a ghost. Those are the "normal" ones for the most part.
Then there is Choopie and Big. Choopie is a chupacabra and Big is a Big Foot. Both Choopie and Big were put through an evolution ray to make them smarter. Big now is very much like Hank McCoy in that he's the smartest member of the team as well as its strongest member. Choopie acts like a 12 year old boy. He refers to vampires as, "blood suckin' freaks" when in fact being a chupacabra he is a blood sucker himself.
Every now and then a couple of characters from the Red Team pop their heads in. Peter Hammerskold is a former Marine and leader of the Red Team. He has little to no tolerance for Arisa and the creatures that make up her team, but he desperately wants to be Blue Team leader. There is also Karl who is a mothman who lends a hand, er, wing from time to time.The group dynamic works extremely well and the characters have a family feel about their relationship with one another. Of course Choopie is the trouble maker with his, "mess you up gun" and so is the one who needs the most supervision. Arisa and Big are the two that hold everything together and keeps everyone focused. Like any family they don't get along perfectly, but they are able to work out their differences rather quickly.
So if you're looking for something that has a Hellboy/X-Files feel The Perhapanauts is for you. The storylines make it a quick and enjoyable read as well as putting an interesting spin on those classic urban legends and folklore tales. Craig's artwork is a style that falls between the gothic and classic sci-fi. Which means it fits the characters and the story perfectly.
For more information about Todd and Craig's Perhapanauts visit their website:
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