Swamp Dogs: House of Crows #1 (October 2021)

Writers – J.M. Brandt and Theo Prasidis

Artist – Kewber Baal

Last month, I got a comment from Martha and an email from Jake about a comic writer that reached out to the Avocado about having their comic reviewed. Mr. Brandt, writer of Swamp Dogs: House of Crows, saw my review of Tales Told in Technihorror and wanted to send a preview copy of his comic for review. I jumped at the opportunity and I finally got a chance to sit down and read this first issue.

The story begins in Land’s End, Louisiana 1865 shortly after the end of the Civil War with three Confederate soldiers on the run from justice. One man, separated from the group, is attacked, while the other two escape into a swamp, only to be cornered and violently killed. Flash forward to the present on Halloween night in Baton Rouge. Two women, named Ayana and Violet, meet at a party, and begin to talk and hit it off with one another. In another part of the city, a homeless man walks around a bone garden with his puppy, looking to spend the night in an abandoned house. The man accidently trips over his four-legged friend and smashes his nose into a headstone. Hurt and bloody, the man heads to the house to take care of his injury, his blood running down the grave marker. A hand pops out of the grave as the dead walk! The door to the house opens and the issue ends with a zombie about to attack the horrified man.

I first learned about Scout Comics thanks to my friends Cole, Nick, and Todd at the Comic Burrito. Scout Comics recently launched their imprint Black Caravan, which is their horror and mature reader line.

If you know me and read my reviews here at the Avocado, you already understand how much I love all things horror, so this first issue was right up my alley. This might be the very first time I have ever seen Confederate soldiers used as villains in any modern story. We have heard the term, “the South shall rise again”, but who would have thought it would be related to shambling and scary undead ghouls looking to kill the living and feast on them? Certainly not me, that’s for sure.

Swamp Dogs: House of Crows #1 is rated M for mature because of some steamy adult situations between Ayana and Violet. There’s not much blood or gore in this first issue but this is the calm before the storm.

Speaking of Ayana and Violet, it’s only a matter of time before the zombies crash the Halloween party and wreak havoc on them and the other guests in attendance. Will their budding romance end before it blossoms? There’s only one way to find out and that’s by picking up Issue 2 of this series.

I’d like to thank Mr. Brandt for the opportunity to review Swamp Dogs: House of Crows #1. He was kind enough to send me the preview for Issue 2 and I’ll have a review of it soon.

If you would like to purchase this first issue of Swamp Dogs in print or digital or any other Scout Comics, you can find the link to the webstore here. If you use the code BURRITO (all Caps), you get ten percent off your purchase.