Soul Taker #1: A Surprise a Minute

Dawn breaks in Miami on the first page of Soul Taker #1. Amara wakes up and goes through her morning routine. She takes a bus to a major station where she finds and opens a locker. Inside is equipment for her to leave genetic samples: blood and hair. She drops that box in a different locker where she retrieves a bag of money. This has been a longstanding arrangement. But on this particular day it goes very wrong.

Sniegoski and Acheson’s writing will pull in readers long before the plot starts to take shape. The third person narration that opens the issue and carries on throughout it is considered and reflective in the abstract. Soul Taker #1 benefits considerably by getting into Amara’s head but remaining at a remove. There is a matter-of-fact quality here that usually isn’t present with first person narration, and it further elevates writing that in an overall sense is excellent.

Soul Taker #1 delivers a number of sudden surprises. The high quality writing is a great way into the issue, but the twists kick the story into high gear. No fewer than three surprises will keep readers on their toes as they try and figure out where the series will go.

Burzos’ art is as deliberate as the writing in many ways. Panels often feel like snapshots, even during the very limited action sequences. Like the narration, the art feels at a remove for most of the issue.

The passage of time in Soul Tracker #1 is very much linked to the series’ overall concept, but in this issue it’s especially connected to the theme of the narration–the progression of one day into the next and those days into much longer periods of time. Lecce’s coloring reinforces this particular theme very effectively.