Back when we first reported the announcement of The Devil's Handshake by Archaia, I was rather intrigued. I remained rather intrigued throughout the remaining months, including the one that the book was scheduled for release. When I finally got my hands on it and cracked it open, I was sucked in instantly. The only problem is that once you are entombed within the short 48-page "graphic novella", it doesn't let you out. That's not to say that it was so good I didn't want it to end, it means that allArchaia delivers here is a couple of great characters in an exciting situation that ends abruptly before ever really getting the chance to come to life.
We meet our main duo, Basil and Moebius, smack dab in the middle of a quest to retrieve an ancient artifact from an indigenous tribe in New Zealand. Instantly, writers Larry Hama and Ryan Schifrin establish the world and its inhabitants. This is a world not unlike Indiana Jones, where treasure hunting is full of grand danger, exuberant adventure, and the supernatural, instead of tedious fossil dusting. Basil and Moebius have a great chemistry together, their characters bounce off one another like all the great partners of stories past; it's certainly a bromance in the making. The duo are also employed by a mysterious man known only as "The Collector" who has sent them on this quest for an artifact they know nothing about.
See? It's a great adventure story set-up, isn't it? And yes, there is adventure to be had, plenty of run-and-gunning, fist fights, and narrow escapes. The problem is that there is no underpinning to it. A larger story is hinted at, sure, but for a book being promoted as the debut of these great new characters and stamped with "one-shot" right on the cover, I was expecting at least a full, cohesive tale. Instead, we get what acts more or less as a debut issue of an ongoing series, with bits and pieces of a tale for the long run. Of course, this is a small press publisher and ongoings are a bit more of a risk than novels and mini-series, but the ending phrase "The adventures of Basil and Moebius will continue in The Shadow Gambit...if we're lucky" doesn't exactly bode well. Please don't misconstrue and think for even a second I wish failure upon this book and its creative team, because that is absolutely not the case. I thoroughly enjoyed The Devil's Handshake, but it's simply incomplete. It feels as though it's a testing of the waters instead of a full on launch of a new brand from Archaia.
Aside from my issues with the curtness of The Devil's Handshake, the story does many things right to establish these characters as a pair you'd like to read in new adventures over and over again. As I stated previously, their banter back and forth is natural and amusing. In fact, aside from expected lines of blatant exposition explaining who or what something is, the dialog is well written and doesn't sound like complete nonsense when spoken aloud. There are a lot of great ideas floating around in here, from characters to monsters and recurring jokes; hopefully the creators will get the chance to take advantage of this the next time around.
The art work in the book leaves a little to be desired; Adam Archer and Lizzy John do a serviceable job here, but nothing beyond. Layouts are simple and well spaced, and there is never a time where a page looks too cluttered with either word balloons or panels. The figure work is a bit uneven, and the coloring can make the characters look off kilter at times. While the pros and cons of the art work are mostly a split right down the middle, the one thing that is really a detriment to the book is the static nature of the action scenes. For a book so heavy with fights and movement, these sequences simply don't deliver. Punches don't have impact, guns have no recoil and running looks stiff.
The Devil's Handshake has bits and pieces of greatness stored inside of it, the creative team and Archaia just need to find the right tool to unlock it.
