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Dark holiday wishes arrive in first look at IDW's The Crow: Hark The Herald
A proper Yuletide season is never complete without tales of dark elves, midnight sprites, wandering snowmen, and the holiday demon himself, Krampus, so the lofty avenging spirit known as The Crow seems right at home by the warm crackling hearth.
IDW Publishing knows you've been both naughty and nice so they're delivering a special winter one-shot from Hack/Slash's Tim Seeley and artist Meredith Laxton on Nov. 27 titled The Crow: Hark The Herald — and SYFY WIRE is lighting up your Thanksgiving with an exclusive look inside.
Seeley and Laxton's diabolical plotline revolves around an annual tradition for a unique group of six people who gather for a festive Christmas in a log cabin in the remote North Woods of Wisconsin. However, this isn’t your normal nuclear family arguing over who gets the last drumstick — no, this deadly half-dozen souls are six of the most notorious murderers in North America.
This unofficial union of professional killers honors the spirit of the season each year to make some semi-normal connections by sharing a delicious dinner, exchanging gifts, watching TV specials, and wearing ugly Christmas sweaters.
Now, last year’s troubled sins have risen up from the cold grave, prepared to deliver the sweet gift of revenge. Guided by the power of the Crow and returned from sleep, Cecilia Rite will give these six sick psychos one helluva holiday hammer party to regain peace on Earth!
"Hark the Herald is my attempt at doing the sort of poetic storytelling the original Crow was so amazing at," Seeley tells SYFY WIRE. "I felt like a Christmas fable would be a great way to try and capture some of that fairy tale quality of the James O' Barr classic. It's intentionally a bit dreamy and strange and hopefully we mix some beauty amidst the horrific violence.
"The art is done by a recent MFA graduate, Meredith Laxton, and she's cutting her teeth here, with some pretty great storytelling!"
"David Hedgecock at IDW cooked it up," Seeley adds. "I started reading a lot of old Christmas legends for research and I felt like there was so much to be explored between the story of the Crow and some of these old stories.. Most of them are incredibly grim, so I took some inspiration from them. I mean, the legend behind the Christmas Pickle?! Dear lord! It makes my Crow story look like 'A Charlie Brown Christmas.'
Now drift into our exclusive 8-page preview of IDW's The Crow: Hark The Herald in the gallery below, then tell us if its dark fable illuminates the more twisted chambers of your heart.
