O.C.T.
May 1st, 2009
O.C.T.
Writers: Rosario Dawson, David Atchison
Artist: Tony Shasteen
Reviewer: Louise
In which N.Y.P.D detective Sophia Ortiz (modeled on actress Rosario Dawson) stumbles upon a bizarre murder scene, and is recruited into a covert police unit – the Occult Crimes Taskforce. Can she stop the killer in time?
I haven’t really a whole lot to say about this book, though I am trying. I can’t fault the artwork, and the plot isn’t too bad… I think for me the problem is.. well… did anyone else read the plot description above and think “Hmm, this sounds oddly familiar?” It is a very well-worn plot – the first episode of Torchwood is almost exactly the same.
Which, in itself, is not necessarily a problem. The first episode of just about any series featuring a secret or specialist “team” of some sort or other -vampire slayers, occult crime investigators, ordinary crime scene investigators, cyberwarriors fighting the Matrix, supervillains – will focus on the newbie a) finding out about the team, b) discovering they have a major role to play – often in the face of scepticism from the regular team members – and c) winning their way onto it. Unless of course the author is going for variation #1 on this plot; newbie doesn’t want to be recruited onto the team and has to be won over. Either way, it’s pretty familiar.
It’s not so much whether the plot is new, as how the author handles it. Unfortunately, for me, neither the characters nor the scenario were really fresh or engaging enough to prevent the overwhelming feeling of “been there, done that”.
Paperback: 152 pages
Publisher: Image Comics (27 Jun 2007)
ISBN-10: 1582406758