Comic Book Review: The Army of Dr. Moreau written by David F. Walker, art by Carl Sciacchitano, color by Sara Machajewski
The year is 1939, and agents of the British and American governments have been sent to visit H.G. Wells, well-known author of utopian books. But it is not one of his utopian volumes they have come to discuss, or his socialist views. Back in 1896, he’d wrote a short novel titled The Island of Doctor Moreau. It turns out the book was not…entirely…fictional.
The inspiration for the book was the real life (in-story) Dr. Meraux, a French vivisectionist whose island laboratory had been stumbled on by soldier of fortune Edward Prentiss (fictionalized as idler Edward Prendrick) who’d told Wells the story of his adventures there. Somehow the Nazis have stumbled into possession of some of Meraux’s notes and the location of the island.
So the agents then visit Prentiss at his isolated cabin. He reveals that he deliberately lied to Wells about the ending of his story. Specifically, two important points. Dr. Meraux’s laboratory was never destroyed by fire and was still mostly intact when Prentiss left. Also, the creatures created by Meraux’s process did not revert to animalism, and were able to reproduce other animal people.
Prentiss isn’t too keen on returning to the island, nor in leading anyone else there, but if the Nazis have already found the place and have anyone capable of recreating Dr. Meraux’s cruel experiments, then he’ll have to go with the small group of available operatives.
This IDW miniseries riffs on H.G. Wells’ classic science horror tale with the ever-popular addition of World War Two Germany as the villains of the piece. Because the U.S. wouldn’t enter the war for another two years, the mission must be kept secret.
By the time Prentiss and the others arrive, the Nazis have in fact made some progress, though their leader is unimpressed by the new dog soldiers. To be honest, he’s a jerk even by Nazi standards. He finally learns that descendants of the original experiments are still alive and begins hunting them for the information they might provide on perfecting the process.
The protagonists must find a way to stop the Nazi experiments and (at Prentiss’ insistence) save the current inhabitants of the island from being wiped out. Will this require breaking the Law of Man?
I found most of the good guy characters likable, even the mildly jerkish ones. The Nazis were of course pretty two-dimensional though there is hope for the dog soldiers at the end. The art was adequate to telling the human characters apart, and there was some good panel design.
Content note: vivisection, gory violence, torture.
While this is horror-tinged, the series is more action-adventure. I’d recommend it for senior high readers on up, especially anthropomorphic animal fans.
