Review: Voodoo #1 (Marz & Basri)

The New 52 wants all you guys out there to “get your hands out of your pants and into your pockets” to spend a little on some memories from Voodoo #1, yet another addition to DC’s re-launch that is all about sex, violence and a little mystery; but mainly SEX!  You know what kind of characters get instant attention from a male dominated audience regardless of the story?  Strippers – and guess what line of work Voodoo is in to?  Bingo.  This book doesn’t beat around the bush by seducing the reader right away from page one thanks to some very sexy curves penciled by Sami Basri.  He’s clearly carrying over his proficiency with the female body from his work on the (sadly, no longer existent) Power Girl series.  Although he’s no Amanda Conner, Basri delivers beautiful bodies, exceptional angles and some fairly attractive and emotive faces. 

The story is actually not too bad either.  Ron Marz unapologetically applies a seductive character, atmosphere and overall voyeur tone in order to lull the reader into a comfort zone where almost nothing out of the ordinary seems to be happening for the majority of the book.  Nothing, aside from the two government agents that are keeping an eye on Voodoo in as professional of an undercover manner as the atmosphere of a strip club would allow.  Voodoo’s story is riddled with questions, but thankfully Marz spells out none of the answers by showing the reader key panels and allowing subjective interpretation to add to the mystery.  Before long, the reader is convinced that nothing fantastic is going to happen at all, but then a shockingly brutal murder occurs (or does it?) and some intriguing answers follow it.  By this issue’s end, we know what Voodoo is, but not who she is.  We know what she’s doing, but not why she’s doing it.  This sort of bait-and-hook storytelling is perfect for the neo-noir femme fatale that Voodoo may or may not be.

I am not ashamed to say that I am a great fan of sexy art, and that alone would get me to buy back into this series for issue #2 and beyond. But learning more about this character, how she fits into the rest of the DCU and whom she might eventually come to odds with – simmers my curiosity with a glaze of fascination.  Hopefully there are many more sides to this mysterious woman that will be revealed because her character is compelling, but not unique.  For any fans of Mass Effect 2, one word best outlines Voodoo: Morinth.  It does not seem that the events which will transpire within the Voodoo series will send shockwaves throughout the DCU, but this is actually a compliment.  With so many AAA characters fighting over who’s global agenda is more important, a cloak and dagger tale that is situational and isolated shows stronger immunity against the struggles of cross title conformity.  Voodoo is welcome to weave her magic on me anytime.