“In 1891 a mine collapsed into itself. What was the dark substance found 666 feet underground? Blending a western horror story, historical fact, and Western lore, Scott Snyder and Dan Panosian have created a uniquely terrifying thriller with Canary.”
The legendary hero from the Dime Novels himself Marshall Willam Holt (who wears a mask that is similar to the mask worn by the Phantom of the Black Hills) is recruited to tag along with a geologist by the name of Mr. Ed Edwards to solve the mystery, along with them is the local saloon owner and the daughter of the discoverer of the mines Ms. Mabel Warren.
Following the series’ recent digital release, Scott Snyder and Dan Panosian’s Canary has been heading to print in 56-page oversized issues from Dark Horse Comics. Snyder has done some research into this period of the American West and sprinkles some of that knowledge into the western horror story, helping to both flavor the proceedings and authenticate the time period. Compelling characters, some subtle social commentary as befitted those times, and a creepy mystery to keep things moving forward.
“During the final days of the Gold Rush, one mining company in Colorado pulled up radioactive uranium–and then the mine collapsed in on itself. Legends sprang up about the mine being cursed or even haunted. Now, the Frontier is closed, the gold and silver mines have dried up, the country is becoming “civilized,” and yet, in one stretch of the Rocky Mountains, a terrifying, new kind of violence is suddenly emerging: random killings as people go mad and murder neighbors or classmates without real cause. When a schoolboy kills his teacher with a hatchet, a famous federal marshal named Azrael William Holt is called in to investigate the killings. What he and a brilliant young geologist uncover is stranger and more horrifying than anything they could have ever imagined.”