Norm Breyfogle, of ‘90s fame, is back in action with Of Bitter Souls, from Speakeasy Comics. Speakeasy is sort of hit-and-miss right now, in my opinion. For instance, they continue to do well with Atomika, but then there is Beowulf and The Hunger which I just don’t happen to enjoy. Rocketo looks original, and inventive, but I admit that I haven’t yet read it. So, now we have Of Bitter Souls. This title seems like a bad Valiant or Image title from the early ‘90s. Set in New Orleans, the book tells (sort of) the tale of four young people removed from their normal, and mostly crappy, lives, only to be taken in by a magical preacher-type who apparently trains and changes them into heroes to battle N’awlin’s vampire problem.

Sounds too cool to be true, right?

Not really, huh? And that’s it. They save the day without any casualties, due to their ability to go back in time and change their moves, and they erase the memories of the Vampires’ victims so that no one’s the wiser. That’s it. It tries to be so much more exciting than it really is. It was, I suppose, a Valiant attempt.

-Peblee