My Cultural Diet

It’s 1956 in Montana, and the Garrett family are traveling to Kootenai National Forest to bid farewell to their husband and father, Nathan, who died battling a wildfire. But shortly after arriving in the forest, Jolene Garrett and her two kids begin experiencing bizarre phenomena that seem to suggest that Nathan might not be dead, after all. That, or some malevolent force is just toying with them. I know this will sound harsh, but I kind of forgot that I’d read Morning Star within a day. It’s not a bad storyline, and I do like Marco Finnegan’s artwork quite a lot, which feels of a piece with the era in which the comic takes place. But Tim Daniel and David Andry’s story, though clearly inspired by classic Spielberg movies, falls flat. The comic’s final moments strive for a sense of a wonder to resolve the storyline, but it feels perfunctory and tacked on considering everything that happens beforehand. It’s frustrating, because this is normally the sort of story I really like, and the bones are certainly there. However, it just didn’t materialize for me.

I may earn an affiliate commission on items you buy through Opus. These commissions will go directly to support the site and my blogging.