Plunge #1 – Hill House/DC Comics
Written by Joe HillArt by Stuart Immonen
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Deron Bennett
Cover by Jeremy Wilson
Terrifying tales of the sea are hard to pass up, especially when there is a good mystery involved. So many waters are unexplored, along with other formations in the sea, you never know what you might find. What happens when you’re looking for something very specific and very personal? It’s time to take the Plunge with Hill House Comics and see what we find.
The story follows the mystery of a research vessel that went missing. Now, 40 years later, a distress beacon has been activated and a mission has been launched to find out why. There is also something going on with some local marine life that is out of the ordinary. This all literally in the wake of a giant tsunami near the Bering Strait. So a marine biologist, an oil executive and a salvage company (no that’s not the beginning of a joke), all set off to find out what’s going on. This is a very unique group to say the least, which creates an interesting dynamic in the early parts of the mission. As with any sea epic, just when you think things are quiet and normal, it ends up being quite the opposite. That is the cliffhanger we are left with in the first issue.
Speaking of said cliffhanger, it was really brought to life and made possible by Immonen’s art. The way he presents these striking visuals adds a layer of tension that would have otherwise been missing from this issue. There are plenty of ordinary moments that Immonen makes extraordinary, as well. The mystery itself is certainly interesting enough. You get a little bit of John Carpenter’s The Thing, blended with Manifest and a sprinkle of Jaws (mostly because of the crew.) As expected, there aren’t a ton of answers in this first issue, but I felt like I got just enough to stay invested. Being a fan of mysteries at sea (or space for that matter) like I am, might help make you want to stick around. That being said, I am curious to see how quickly they will capitalize on the final page of this issue coming up in Issue 2.
RATING: 4/5
(The art is an easy 5/5 but I want to make sure this story continues to build before I fully commit to more.)