BLEEDING HEARTS #8: The Bunny.

Rabbit’s life hangs in the balance between life and death as Mama and The Flower Boy are desperate to save her life though their paths may differ. What does it mean to be alive? Does a beating heart mean there is life? What’s the point of living in a world wrought by death and decay? Bring your tissues as Bleeding Hearts #8 packs an emotional gut punch.

Creative Team: Deniz Camp, Stipan Morian, Stef Bartolic, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

The Story:

Deniz is in his bag with this issue blending three point of views that are vastly different and yet intersect seamlessly together. We’re seeing a desperate more vulnerable side to Mama that hasn’t been seen before as she provides a rough and more heartless exterior. Rabbit is weaving in and out of life and death recalling her past memories. This particular point of view will crush the reader, especially parents. Seeing a child apologize and carry the weight around of being the reason her father died and being the cause of death for others is heart shattering. Meanwhile, Poke struggles to determine if he should turn Rabbit into a zombie to preserve her life. What is the right answer? Camp causes us to reflect internally within ourselves and what we would do in this situation playing at our emotional responses. Amidst the internal strife the story introduces a new character that is truly an abomination but, may be the key to something bigger.

The Art:

The artwork is next level within these pages starting with Hassan’s lettering which flashes a dark green as though the reader is being given hints and clues with keywords and phrases. Stipan’s ability to detail and provide splash pages that give the reader so much to linger on is next to none. There are moments in the beginning where the way Rabbit was detailed and drawn that left us wondering her fate. Meanwhile, Stef’s colorwork aides in painting a grim vibe throughout this issue. The team opts for a white background while shading our characters darker in these moments to push the point of how dire this situation is. The final page will surely leave you contemplating life in so many ways as it may be the most beautiful and sad scene in the run to date.

Final Thoughts:

Bleeding Hearts #8 will leave you speechless as our characters are broken in a way we’ve yet to see in this run. The artwork is stunning while Camp’s ability to intertwine these 3 points of views together brings us closer to the characters. If you’re attending NYCC you’ll be able to find Deniz Camp there!

I will also be attending NYCC so if you see us from the Nerd Initiative crew say hello! Let us know how you feel about this issue and check out more reviews by Matt!