Issue #5 of 8: STICKY THERAPY
Writer: Dan Schaffer
Art: David Miller
Covers: Dan Schaffer
Publisher: 1First Comics
Doctor Freust dishes out harsh treatment during a session that leaves her questioning her own sociopathic behaviour. Maybe her new sordid reputation is deserved. When she seizes the opportunity to try a dangerous experiment on a sentient mannequin, the results are predictably catastrophic and it begins to look like Inmate Eleven’s malevolent influence is pushing Freust closer to the same abyss of insanity that swallowed her father.
Dan Schaffer’s MALEFIC #1-5
WOW! What a pleasant surprise this series has been for me. Dan Schaffer has crafted something that feels so original, so fresh and I ate these first five issues up like candy. The characters are creative and unique along with the story itself. Schaffer was able to mold a world that feels like it could exist in the reality, but it scares the shit out of me to say that. It’s scares me because of the severely dark, gruesome environment and individuals that make up that setting and story line. A comic that can produce characters, places, and events that the reader believes can exist in the real world is a comic that deserves recognition and praise, especially when those characters, places, and events are horrifying, supernatural entities that have demonic telekinetic abilities.
Schaffer is no doubt deserving of credit for his accomplishment with creating and putting his ideas onto he panels. But equal amount of recognition must be given to the artist, David Miller (Schaffer also did the covers). I loved the choice to go no color on the panels. The black and white visuals fit greatly with the themes and overall scheme of the book. Another great advantage, for me at least, is that a colorless comic allows me as a reader to be more imaginative in my own mind, and I can interpret what I think a specific panel would look like myself. Not only the color choices, but the style and character design are fantastic. The artwork was spot on, loved all of it.
So, what is this series about? Well, in short, there is a new doctor in town, and her name is Dr. Freust. Freust has taken over the running of an extremely interesting, you could say, insane asylum. However, this isn’t you’re average lunny bin. The patients, along with staff, are a very unique bunch of individuals. As a reader, we get to tag along with young Dr. Freust as she struggles to maintain order and sanity for not only the patients of the asylum but herself as well. This comic is horrifying, thought provoking, raunchy, intriguing, and anything but ordinary.
