Kraken

If pop culture has only taught me one thing it is that siding with the creatures from other realms is not a great idea. They tend to renege on contracts once they have what they want, usually via sucking your brain out through your nose. Also, the partnerships are not normally people you would want to hang out with. The Nazis always seem to have a good relationship with the vessels of the Old Gods. However, sometimes you need to fight fire with fire, or in the case of Shannon Eric Denton and David Hartman’s Kraken, unnatural beast versus unnatural beast. 

Captain Kraken was already used to dealing with the supernatural in his adventures, but nothing prepared him for three years trapped in a nightmare dimension. So long in a living hell would change most people and this is true of Kraken. Though he may now hide his face and have unworldly powers, he remains the moral crusader – that could not be taken from him. When a village has all its children stolen, Kraken and his plucky allies may be the only people who can save them. 

A 1930 aesthetic, Nazis and Old Gods, all wrapped up in action and violence does bring to mind Hell Boy, and there are many parallels to the two projects. You could see Kraken being told as a parallel story. This is not lost on Denton and Hartman, as Mike Mignola (creator of Hell Boy) worked on a cover for their direct market edition of the comic. However, it does have its own distinct qualities. There is a touch more Allan Quatermain, a gentleman adventurer, getting into scraps, but doing the right thing. 

Having a strong moral centre with Kraken is key to offset some of the horrors in the book. This is a story of other dimensions full of demons and creatures you cannot even look at, lest they drive you insane. The strength that Kraken required to withstand what he saw and what happened to him is extreme. Meanwhile, the Nazis are all chumming up to the ‘others’ and planning to enslave the world. 

This is an action comic at heart and there is a lot of running and shooting. As this also includes shade of Cthulhu, it also has plenty of tentacles and rendering of flesh. Hartman has a clean and bold style that projects the action well. Some of the faces are a little minimalist, but the style is kept throughout. There is a nice use of colour throughout the book that helps the reader to understand where the action is taking place. 

If you call shooting Nazis and tearing the limbs off pirates as fun, then Kraken is a fun book. It deals with dark themes, but really it is an action adventure. It has some deep concepts, but I think this is a graphic novel for readers who enjoy quick action and fun characters. It feels serialised, so you can expect more adventures with Captain Kraken, and you just know they are going to go to some bizarre and interesting places.