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Creative Teams: “Killer Spec” by J. Holtham (Writer), Jorge Fornes (Artist), and Dan Jackson (Colorist)
“Senator, Senator” by Chris Condon (Writer), Peter Krause (Artist), and Michelle Madsen (Colorist)
“Family Values” by Stephanie Phillips (Writer), Phil Hester (Artist), Travis Hymel (Inker), and Marissa Louise (Colorist)
“Us vs Us” by Brian Azzarello (Writer), Vlad Legostaev (Artist), and Brittany Peer (Colorist)
Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Tyler Smith (Letters)
EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS Published by Oni Press
FIRST THOUGHTS
I’m a big fan of television series like Creepshow and Tales from the Crypt. Growing up, I watched them every time I saw them. I did not read a lot of horror comics or anthologies like those that EC Comics did. This is what inspired EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS. I know I missed out. I don’t want to miss out this time around.
THE STORIES
Something readers should be aware of going into this issue is that this isn’t a 48 page book. This is a tight 32-34 pages that has four stories. Each of these stories is told with a hook and a payoff and none ever feel rushed. There isn’t a lot of room for fluff. Each of these writers hits the mark with each of their stories.
J. Holtham gets the ball rolling with “Killer Spec”, which is a twisted tale. You immediately despise the lead character and are horrified by his actions, The resolution, while grotesque, is satisfying. It has a twisted Twilight Zone kind of ending that just feels right.
Chris Condon’s “Senator, Senator” answers a question that many voters have wondered about, “why did the person I voted for change so much after they got elected?” This story was the most predictable, but still shocks you at the reveal just the same.
ANOTHER GREAT REVIEW!
Stephanie Phillips’s “Family Values” is something that could easily be seen in today’s online streaming community… with a deadly twist. This one leaves you with more questions than the others because this story feels like we’re just at the beginning of a movement.
Brian Azzarello’s “Us vs Us” is a pandemic paranoia conspiracy theory that comes to life. There had to be people who thought this would actually be something that would happen, and that’s what makes this story so dark, but humorous at the same time.
Each of these stories are amazing, and dark feats of writing that are worth coming back to and reading again down the road. They’re evergreen horror stories, and how can you not enjoy that?
THE ART
The art in this entire issue is really good. There is a lot of craftsmanship that has to go into doing a horror or suspense comic that doesn’t get used when doing other comics. There’s the art of suspense in every comic keeping a reader engaged as they wait for the page turn of the big reveal at the end. In a comic like EPITAPHS FROM THE ABYSS, an artist needs to hold the reader in that kind of suspense from panel to panel because you don’t know when the story is going to make that switch, that reveal, that moment that shocks you as a reader.
Jorge Fornes and Dan Jackson in “Killer Spec” don’t have a lot of opportunities to shock readers, but what they do is create a boring and mundane character and world with Dylan. They have to do that because once that moment hits and things ramp up, the art makes that switch with both linework and coloring.
DON’T MISS CROCODILE BLACK!
Peter Krause and Michelle Madsen in “Senator, Senator” craft a pretty ordinary story with their art up until the last minute and when the reader sees those last two pages, the linework and colors get bold and strike an emotion, not only in our lead character, but in the readers’ by what’s revealed.
Phil Hester, Travis Hymel, and Marissa Louise in the page of “Family Values” craft a story that every family can easily be terrified about. Their art is different from the previous two stories because their entire story is about tension and fear. The only time there’s any rest from that kind of stress is for a brief couple of panels and then they ramp it up one more time.
Vlad Legostaev and Brittany Peer’s work in “Us vs Us” is probably the most entertaining of the book because the concept is so far fetched so they’re allowed to just have a lot of fun with the characters. The characters are terrifying, but done in a way that the reader kind of forgets that for a moment until they get reminded in the next panel.
Each art time brings something different to their story than the other artists and it makes for a really good showcase of artists in an anthology.
FINAL THOUGHTS
This issue hit the marks for me from cover to cover. Horror and suspense is hard to do in comics, but I think each of these creative teams did a great job and I cannot wait for the next issue.
RATING – 8 out of 10 gravedigging shovels