Image Comics reviews 11/27/24 – Void Rivals #14, Hyde Street #2

Hornsby & Halo #1

Peter J. Tomasi might be trying to catch up with his fellow Ghost Machine writer Geoff Johns with the debut of his second title, Hornsby & Halo. Told with a nod to Jack Kirby’s New Gods, the title looks at an exchange of two infants as a means of pausing an endless conflict between Heaven and Hell. It’s a question of nature vs. nurture.

The infant born in heaven, Zachary Halo, is adopted to a less than good-natured family. Zach’s adoptive parents run a funeral home and aren’t above taking an extra cut of the profits to add to their bottom line. Rose Hornsby was brought to a kind and loving family — a significant departure from her birthplace.  Tomasi making the jump to Ghost Machine was a major coup for the surging Image brand and a significant loss for DC. Especially when considering Tomasi further honed his skills at writing families with a young child during the excellent Rebirth run on Superman.

Rose and Zach have strongly defined personalities right away and their interactions with their families is already very promising in terms of providing easy conflicts and subplots.

Given the art style of Peter Snejbjerg, it’s not hard at all to envision Hornsby & Halo as an animated movie or series in the near future. Snejbjerg draws his pages almost like a director with well-timed wide pans and intimate close-ups. Colorist John Kalisz plays up the heaven and hell themes with bright, calming blues and intense reds. Letterer Rob Leigh keeps the dialogue easy to follow while working in some fun speech bubbles.

In the Ghost Machine primer, this seemed like an idea that might best work as a mini-series, but an intriguing development in the back half shows this could be a series with plenty of staying power. Especially as Tomasi leans into the Hornsby & Halo aspect of the title.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10