One of the things I love about getting involved with smaller titles is that they are engaging me with genres that I have been neglecting in my regular regimen of nerdiness. In the case of Kieth Holmes and his buddies at Enterlight Studios, the newly discovered piece of the puzzle is the supernatural. Yes, I realize that most of what I have read contains some supernatural substance, but I am talking about the archetypical supernatural: stuff like bigfoot and werewolves. That’s the supernatural sort of substance you will find in Enterlight’s Project: Archangel and Templar.

Unfortunately, the only bit of Project: Archangel I had the pleasure of reading was the eight page preview made available on the Enterlight Studios website. The six pages of actual story found here don’t really have the chance to establish anything but a general idea of the story that Archangel will become. In a sentence, Project: Archangel is a group of super-powered commandos that travel the globe in search of mythical monsters from which to protect the world. The preview gives us a glimpse of bigfoot being one of such creatures, and brings us the tagline “Bigfoot is not real, gentlemen. But that doesn’t mean that is does not exist.” That tagline confuses and excites me. Will Holmes give us an idea of the difference between reality and existence? Will that statement lead us to a philosophical question or a linguistic loophole? Time will tell, but my hope is for the former. Overall, the preview is an exciting look at what may be to come.

Of the two previews however, my favorite was Templar. Here, Holmes uses six pages of content much more efficiently. In the three minutes it will take you to read them, you will have an idea of who the hero is, his love interest (the narrator), and the villains (both human and supernatural). The hero looks to be a total badass. Hell, any good guy with a sword on his back and a gun at his hip is fine by me. The problem with Templar is that the preview is much more impressive than the web comic that follows it. The story and art of the first issue are just as good as the preview, but the creators decided against color (understandable if you are producing your own comic and you want to save money AND get your work out as quickly as possible). One can only hope that a print version will be released with full color. Another thing that was lacking was narration of someone outside of the supernatural world. I think having the sexy lady narrator brought the preview down to the reader’s level. Even though she doesn’t know that the love of her life was a werewolf-fighting, roof jumping ninja templar guy; I took comfort in the fact that she would have to be introduced to it at the same speed any other normal human being (like myself) would. But who knows what the next issue will have in store.

Between the two titles, a pattern emerges. Both merge supernatural stories with realistic ones. Scientific lobbyists in suits asking the government for money and strippers with high hopes that depend on fat criminals are realistic scenes that put the stories in the real world. Hot chicks flying on electric clouds to confront bigfoot and knights chasing werewolves through the New York City streets are the crazy scenes that make these stories belong in the comic book world. In my opinion, that juxtaposition is what gives these young titles some potential. To check these comics out for yourself, please head over to the Enterlight Studios website. Let me know what you think!

Project: Archangel (3.5/5)
Templar (4/5)