As I stated before in my Fangoria review, there has been a real upswing in horror / terror / dark storytelling in the comic scene. I am calling this the Renaissance of the Horror comic. While I was at WWC, I got a wide sampling of artist and storytellers in this upcoming renaissance. I have grouped the books into several groups… this first set contains books meant for the serious horror fan, the ones that believe that some of the scariest stories out there don’t have to have any blood / gore or any light hearted comic relief… Warning: not for the kids
Pogrom (Hypergraphia comics – Tomao / Medors / Ruffs / Templesmith) As of this review, I have only seen the WWC exclusive preview, but Pogrom looks like a book to watch. Pogrom is a dark future story, where a twisted theocracy has a terror grip on the world and a specter-like monster is society’s only hope. Throw in the living Avatars of the deadly sins, war priests and pretty decent art… and Pogrom is a book you should look into. Look for them here Story: A Art: A-
Awakeing (Archaia – Tapalansky / Eckman-Lawn / Mauer) Awakening is a story told from the point of view of an ex-police officer in a small town who is in the position of the reluctant hero. Derreck Peters is given information about the recent gruesome killings from an unlikely and unreliable source… and that it is not a killer, but rather a zombie attack. Great story premise and fantastic fleshing out… no pun intended. The art, while done well for the style it is, is not my cup of tea… splashy, sketchy does set the right mood for the story, but I still struggle when there are no definitive borders of objects. Awakening is the next 30 Days of Night. Look for this book here. Story: A Art: A (very stylized)
Insiginifcant Gods (Dead City Comics – Derian) – Evan Derian is the one man show (writer / artist / publisher) in this almost anti-Heroes story. I have only read issue #6, so I am not up to speed on how certain characters gained their powers, but the storyline revolves around the fact that getting powers might not bring out the best in us (via NBC’s Heroes) but rather take us to the darkest most selfish parts of our souls. This graphic story is actually rather involved and there was a lot of thought put into the rash , violent and often self-destructive actions of the characters. In the middle of this dark drama you have ritual killings, demon possessions and double crossing plots. The B&W art gets a tad crowded with the amount of dialogue the characters have. Overall I can see why this book could become a grassroots fan favorite. Check out Evan Derian’s work here. Story: B Art: B
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