Top Of The Pile: Supernatural - Rising Son

The superb standard of writing we've come to expect from the Supernatural television series has spilled over into its comic book spin-offs.

Rising Son is an in-continuity prequel to the show; a six-issue mini series (collected in a trade paperback form) telling the story of John Winchester's first realisation that there is "something different" about his youngest boy, Sam.

The hunters become the hunted when the Winchesters find themselves on the run from demons - who want to take Sam to raise him as one of their own - and fellow hunters, who have learned of the omens surrounding Sam's possibly dark future.

Although - from the TV show - we already know that neither side ultimately gets their claws into Sam, it's still a thrilling ride from the pen of Peter Johnson, highlighting John Winchester's single-minded willingness to do pretty much anything to keep his boys safe.

Obviously it helps that Johnson is co-executive producer of Supernatural (as well as Chuck), but he really nails the characters and - perhaps more importantly - their world. Although operating with a comic book effects budget (ie. unlimited), barring the demonically animated 'Transformer robot' the Winchesters tussle with in a railyard, everything is kept to the TV show's low-key approach to the paranormal.

Continuity-wise, this storyline features the family's first encounter with the demon Lilith, who - of course - will play such a key role in Sam and Dean's future.

Bloody and violent, Rising Son doesn't contain information that is crucial to anyone's enjoyment of the show, but nevertheless is essential reading for fans of the television series for filling in details of the brothers' less-then-ideal upbringing, the various demonic machinations around young Sam Winchester and the festering anger growing in his brother, Dean.