Hear the rest of the books we discussed this week here on episode 75 of Pick of the Week
After part one concluded a few months ago, this book took a little break before starting part 2. It’s one of the best horror comics on the shelves and somehow keeps ramping up the tension and dread.
Part 2 picks up where the previous issue left off, our characters are reading a journal left by someone who was in this environment before and what they experienced. The story follows the decent into hopelessness and insanity, culminating in a deeply unsettling conclusion for our characters and the reader.
What I really like about this title is the characters. They are all defined and the tension in the group is driving the story forward. Not only are our characters struggling to survive the environment, they are trying to survive one another. With different motivations and goals, it’s not clear who is out to get who or what their motivations are. This keeps the tension cranked up to 10 while they continue to explore and discover more about what this area is and it’s history.
The artwork compliments the story, feel and tone perfectly. It’s unfortunate when the artwork isn’t a good match for the type of story being told, but here it’s a peanut butter and jelly situation. The art and colors are haunting and unsettling.
I hope to speak with the creators of this book for the podcast one day so I can ask them if Jeff VanderMeer’s Area X (the movie Annihilation), or the film The Descent are inspirations. If you are a fan of either of those stories you’ll probably love this book. With so many books on the shelves to choose from this stands out as on of the best.
