Review by Ian Keogh

While the Greco/Roman gods are mainstays of superhero comics, and the Norse gods also get a fair airing it’s surprising how few English language comics feed on the rich myths from other areas of the world. That means Buckhead starts a step ahead by channelling the handed down stories of Nigeria’s Edo region, most prominently featuring Ewon, the Spirit of Imprisonment and one of the eight gods of chaos.

That comes after we’ve been introduced to Toba, a Nigerian middle school kid who’s recently moved with his research scientist mother to Washington after the disappearance of his father while researching an ancient site. Writer Shobo (Coker) makes much at the start of Toba’s name being correctly pronounced, and it’s not too great a leap to imagine that as a personal bugbear for Shobo. Toba fits in well, although there’s one strange incident on his way to school where time seems to stand still outside a seemingly abandoned home.

What plays out is a sort of Scooby Gang mystery and adventure with the four main characters gradually realising how compromised their home town has become, and then meeting someone who’s better informed about what’s going on, and how it could endanger the entire world. Shobo delivers this in a plot fast-paced enough to cover some cracks and unaddressed matters, such as the cost of the technology available to the villains.

George Kambadais matches the enthusiasm with wide-eyed kids jumping bravely into the unknown and jaggedly drawn panels emphasising the pace. He’s called on to design two separate, but connected worlds, and delivers the strangeness when it’s needed.

Shobo could have been a little more comprehensive with the explanations, but that’s not a point most young adult readers will care about when they’re carried away by the adventure.