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Book Review: Pretty Deadly

Pretty Deadly, Volume 1: The Shrike by Kelly Sue Deconnick, art by Emma Rios

Image Comics, 2014

ISBN: 9781607069621

Available: Paperback, Kindle & comixology ebook

The story begins with the skeletal Bunny and Butterfly introducing us to an unusual little girl named Sissy the Vulture Girl, and her guardian, old man Fox. Sissy and Fox travel to different towns reciting the “The Song of Deathface Ginny”. which tells the story of The Mason, the love for his wife Beauty, and the tragedy that awaits her due to his carelessness with her. We learn through the tale that Deathface Ginny’s skills as gunslinger and sabre wielder are legendary, and that if she is set free, death awaits those who cross her path. As the book progresses, Sissy discovers there is much more to the story.

The artwork in this volume is absolutely gorgeous. The backgrounds are vast landscapes with the colours changing to illustrate where the action is taking place. The characters are uniquely rendered.

The storytelling is disjointed and there is a lot of information the reader gets in this first volume, but this method of storytelling it fits the material well. If you like Preacher or gritty westerns with supernatural elements, this may be a good title for you to check out. In addition, if you are looking to read or highlight something for the next Women in Horror Month, February 2018, this is definitely a title you need to pick up. Deconnick and Rios are an amazing team of women creators in the comic horror genre. Highly recommended.

Volume 1 collects Pretty Deadly issues #1-5.

 

Contains: a little bit of blood, a little bit of sexual content, nudity

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Posted on July 31, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Clean Room, Volume 1: Immaculate Conception by Gail Simone, art by Jon Davis-Hunt.

Clean Room, Volume 1: Immaculate Conception by Gail Simone, art by Jon Davis-Hunt

Vertigo, 2016

ISBN: 9781401262754

Available: print, Kindle and comixology ebook

Journalist Chloe Pierce’s fiancé, Philip, takes his own life. When his body is found, he’s holding a book by the enigmatic self-help guru, Astrid Mueller, who began her writing career as a horror author. Chloe believes something in the book made him do it, and she will stop at nothing to get to the bottom of it. She storms the headquarters of the author’s Honest World Foundation, demanding an interview with the reclusive Astrid, and is invited into the Clean Room, a space where someone’s fears are exposed and worst moments are revealed. Chloe’s life quickly changes after her experience in the Clean Room when she is visited by an entity called Spark. There is a problem in the room, however. What has Astrid unleashed on the world after a session with one of her adherents goes wrong?

Simone weaves a strong tale in Clean Room. There is more to both Chloe and Astrid than meets the eye. The way Simone intertwines the story of both women is so well done.  Davis-Hunt’s artwork in this volume is beautiful and terrifying. This book is not for the squeamish, though; while the body horror starts out fairly tame, it intensifies as the story proceeds. Highly recommended.

Volume 1 collects Clean Room issues #1-6.

Contains: body horror, mention of child abuse, nudity, violence

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Posted on June 4, 2017 by , Reply

Book Review: Clive Barker’s Next Testament by Mark Alan Miller

Next Testament

Clive Barker’s Next Testament by Mark Alan Miller
Based on the BOOM! Studios graphic novels by Mark Alan Miller and Clive Barker
Earthling Publications, 2017
ISBN-13: Not Available
Available: Limited, Deluxe, and Lettered versions (direct order from Earthling Publications here)

Is there truly a God? If there is, what is he like?  Why would he put up with the hell on earth for the past millennia, and what would he think of what humanity has become? Clive Barker and Mark Miller have posited these questions in The Next Testament, and answer them in a fascinating tale.

Clive Barker’s Next Testament is a novelization of  BOOM! Studio’s graphic novel series of the same name. While Miller has written the actual novel, Barker’s touch is everywhere here: he drew the artwork both for the cover and interior, which is typically disturbing and splendid. With an introduction by the iconic F. Paul Wilson, readers are in for a special experience.

The story itself is horrific and bombastic, bleeding weird imagination all over the place. In the scorching desolation of the desert, billionaire Julian Desmond is driven to uncover a truth that has eluded humanity for ages, something he doesn’t quite understand himself.  Desmond digs up a strange structure in the middle of nowhere, falling into a darkness that feels like nothing he’s ever imagined. There he meets Wick, a man covered in myriad colors, but not in tattoos; a true illustrated man. Wick claims that he is God, the one true being who sculpted the world, and that he needs to witness what has happened to his creation.

Readers may wonder why he needed to be released from this structure and who locked him up… but not for long.  When Wick is introduced to the modern world, he is enraged, and his actions are those of an Old Testament deity. Julian’s son Tristan and Tristan’s fiance Elspeth may be the only ones with a chance of stopping this destructive god.

Miller and Barker’s creation is brutal, in the fashion of Barker’s classics, such as Books of Blood and Hellraiser. The Next Testament is bloody, unflinching, and unhinged in its free-flowing swath of “hell-on-earth”. This is classic hardcore horror with a philosophic bend to it that will draw Barker’s faithful, but introduce many more to the talents of Miller. The Next Testament is a welcome, and recommended, return to the horror that readers have been craving.

Contains: graphic gore, extreme violence

 

Reviewed by David Simms

Posted on May 26, 2017 by , 1 comment
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