3 out of 5

Aw, it’s cute.  And atrociously edited.

Really, all TV / film guy Chris ‘Doc’ Wyatt needs to move out of his better-than-average range of comicdom and into the notable youthly-accessible-but-entertaining company of guys like Brian Clevinger or Scott Chantler is to write more comics.  Witchfinder General has ‘great premise’ absolutely entwined in its DNA, and Wyatt brings an appreciable jauntiness to the page that surprises with its inventive twists on tropes and stays above the intelligence baseline in terms of dialogue: occasionally cheesy, but never hand-holding or phoned in, and respectful of its audience’s ability to pick up on the mirthful tone.  He’s also paired with Chris Grine on art, who has that magic Archie Comics-like ability of zeroing in on the action and details needed to make the pages filled alive, even when there might be zero backgrounds or only the fewest lines used to define a character.  The green palette of the book is also well applied by Grine, using its sickly hue all over the dang place, and yet somehow able to manipulate that into supporting both comedic and more horrific scenes.

‘Pentagon Intern’ Drew Jackson makes a bad impression on his first day, and thus gets tossed into the sub-sub-sub basement for his internship, assisting the office of the Witchfinder.  Hereby the plot is already a little hinky: the Witchfinder office has apparently existed for centuries, dating back yea-when to Salem times, protecting us all from imps and demons and witches and whatnot, but ‘obfuscated’ via spells from drawing attention from the public.  …And yet the office was known enough to act as purgatory for Jackson.  But it’s okay: don’t think about this stuff too much – Wyatt lets us know this with winks and constant fun little yuks, all in good humor – and besides, it’s only an issue before Drew’s boss is disposed of and Mr. Jackson is left to his own devices.  Oh, and the world is about to end, and only the Witchfinder General can save the day.  Of course, of course.

It’s a fun adventure, to be sure, with what would normally come across as distractions to that main world-ending gambit rendered rewarding by Wyatt’s writing momentum.  Jackson uses day-to-day ghostly interactions to gather compatriots for a final issue fight, and though the pacing is rather herky-jerk (scene transitions are lacking, always the bane of first time comic writers) and hindered by some TV habits wherein catch phrases, of a sort, are waggled in our face too much, the consistent flow of good natured spook-huntin’ hijinks keeps us reading.

But: our world only expands so far.  We’re introduced to ghoulies in issue one, as well as the main baddie, and then we’re pretty much set, pieces in place, no twists and turns along the way, a lot of the really cool ideas dropped as soon as they’re introduced so we can move on to the next one.  And man, the reinvented 1First comics is sorely lacking in editing oversight, it seems, with spelling mishaps and punctuation woes littered everywhere, giving the book an unfortunately uncharming sloppiness.

That said, you can’t help but fantasize about further Witchfinder adventures, and it’s clear from the friendly backmatter – and the general joy in the writing – that Wyatt digs this character, so it’d be nice to see him get the chance to flesh it out more, and weigh it down as the kind of title you’d like to revisit and not just chuckle at in passing…