Beware The Eye Of Odin #1

Having loved Doug Wagner's wonderful characters and crazy twists in Plastic and liking his Vinyl series quite a bit, I was intrigued by BEWARE THE EYE OF ODIN when it was first announced. And for the most part, this feels kinda in that same wheel house. Except (at least in this issue) all the characters feel less unique, less thought out and more just kinda archetypal. Whiney "hero" cursed guy is whiney cursed guy. Whiney old guy is whiney old guy. Maybe insane girl is maybe insane or not. The plot moves super quickly into forcing them into a misfit group on mission that only they can do. Nowhere near as original as a serial killer that loves a plastic doll but it is only the first issue. My only real reservation initially was artist Tim Odland. He was not regular Wagner collaborator Daniel Hillyard, whose slightly restrained Ryan Ottleyish style really helped sell the crazy when the crazy happened. Could Tim live up to what my mind's eye dreamed Hillyard's vikings would be like? Kinda? Tim is a fine draftsman and has some unique takes on things like frost giants and trolls. His action is tremendously fun and highly energetic but his camerawork or panel layout is all over the place. He is very talented but I think he needs an art director or editor to really shine. The other thing he does that I realllllly dislike is anime/ video game random "X"s on muscular arms. Take one look at whiney old guy Stigr and you will be transported back to a million Street Fighter/ Fist of the Northstar characters. Blargh! Anyway I am willing to look past these issues and try #2 in 4 weeks because hey vikings!