Writer: James Robinson
Artist: Paul Smith
Publisher: Image
Before Buffy Summers there was Chance Falconer. Before Sunnydale there was Devil's Echo. And now...at last...the first four issues - the first storyline - of this fine series are available in an oversized hardback format.
Chance Falconer has just turned fourteen. Daughter of famed paranormal investigator, Lucas Falconer, she's expecting to begin her training as is standard practice in the Falconer family. Unfortunately Lucas has other ideas - he says this work should be passed from father to son, not father to child, and wants Chance to grow up, get married, have a son...and Lucas will train the boy. This is mainly due to Lucas' wife (Chance's mother) dying and Lucas being scarred in a nasty fight many years ago.
However, when Lucas has to leave Devil's Echo on a mission, and things start to go wrong, can Chance resist the temptation to meddle? What does this cute little dragon (nicknamed St George) have to do with it? How are either (or both!) of the Mayor or her current election rival, rumoured mobster Sonny Abbott connected with a comatose Shaman and his missing daughter? What do the sewer goblins have to do with this? And what the heck is the threat to end all threats doing in the form of a Giant Toad doing in this book, apart from stepping on retirement homes and generally tearing up Devil's Echo?
All this and more are answered in this excellent, friendly and funny series - accessible for the love of your life or your teen daughter, as well as jaded old critics such as myself. Smith's art may be coming up for ten years old, but it's fresh and fast moving, the characters have charm and personality, and the whole thing is a breath of fresh air in a pretty much staid and moribund market. There are two more volumes of this, minor review updates as to contents as I read them!
What did you think of this book?
Have your say at the Line of Fire Forum!