"Cry Havoc: Mything in Action" is the modern An English Werewolf in Afghanistan

In this first volume of Cry Havoc: Mything in Action, there are such iconic images of a large werewolf prowling the streets of London at night that I was instantly reminded of John Landis' classic movie from 1981, An American Werewolf in London.   The protagonist in this first volume is Lou, a blue haired, ambition-challenged young woman whose relationship with her girlfriend is slowly falling apart.  When Lou gets bitten by a large, mysterious black wolf, she eventually begins to show symptoms of its infection, reminiscent of so many movies and folk tales of old.  This is not your typical man-or-woman-turn-into-werewolves story, however, as Lou is just one such cursed individual in this story that features numerous so-called "shape shifters".

Lou eventually ends up in Afghanistan, on a classified mission with other soldiers who are cursed with the same affliction as she: they're capable of turning into horrible beasts or otherwise ominous monsters, all proficient in some serious carnage (together they resemble some tripped-up version of X-Men mutants, but not for the faint of heart).  Much like the hero of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness - or the its cinematic equivalent, Apocalypse Now - our heroine here is supposed to assist in terminating her squadron's main target, Lynn Odell, a female officer of high rank and a scarred face who's gone completely loco and is now a danger to the same military that recruited her.   The events that take place thereafter are sometimes violent, sometimes chaotic, and sometimes confusing, but never boring, and always packed with the bizarre sense of a trashy and pulpy horror-action spectacle.

The artwork by Ryan Kelly, (colors are by Nick Filardi, Lee Loughridge and Matt Wilson, each in charge of a different setting of Cry Havoc) is clear and simple, presenting the main characters in a manner where each is easily identifiable without looking too much like another (a mistake that too many comic book serials make these days).  Scenes where action and violence dominate are presented with just the right touch of kinetic energy, and come across as exciting and appropriately flashy.  The writing, by Simon Spurrier, has shades of originality, even though it's clearly inspired by pop-cultural phenomenons of the cinematic, literary and graphic novel kind from decades long past - a fitting homage, I would say.  Cry Havoc: Mything in Action may not be the best series that Image currently has to offer, but its intriguing juxtaposition of war, love and a woman's personal curse are handled well enough for an average comic book aficionado to enjoy, on a full-moon night or a cloudy summer evening.
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