Does this burgeoning franchise cut deep and leave a lasting impression?  Or does it ultimately fall under the weight of its own narrative?  Read on to find out.

The official description from Image:

“BLOOD MAKES NOISE” It’s been 72 days since Zoey killed someone. With her recent move to college, Zoey is eager to start a fresh chapter of her life — one where she can control her dark urges the way she has before. But when she becomes the host of a late-night campus radio show, Zoey must consider if she has given a voice to something far more troubled than her anonymous callers.

There’s a lot to love about this creator owned property.  The man behind it has delivered a stark vision that delves into some modern issues while dealing with a core mechanic that’s as old as mankind itself.  The struggle within is front and center from the first page to the final potent panel.

Larime Taylor pens the script and the author gives us a thick slab of meat, as he introduces us to our protagonist / antagonist Zoey Aarons.  To put it lightly, she’s a college freshmen who made a very recent mistake.  But what makes her world accessible is the atmosphere surrounding it.  We have a killer, who’s trying to be in a place she doesn’t fully understand and that makes her journey endlessly compelling.  That said there were a couple spotty moments where the dialogue didn’t flow as well as it needed to, but it was never a large enough detriment to hinder the proceedings.

The scribe pulls double duty as the illustrator, and much like the text Larime Taylor hits it out of the park.  He has an uncanny ability to form faces and people while cementing their final renditions just enough to sell some level of authenticity. There were a couple panels however where the final product felt off and lacked enough detail to fully draw me in.  But these were few and far between.

A Voice in the Dark #1 is without a doubt different, as it cuts its way toward a recommendation.

4/5