Written by Doug Wagner
Art by Daniel Hillyard and Dave Stewart
Published by Image Comics
Jazz, rhythm, blues, pop, rock, soul, and even hip hop. Music in its many wild and various varieties is how humans express themselves, even if those humans are serial killers.
Doug Wagner and Daniel Hillyard, the creators of Plastic, team up with Eisner Award winner Dave Stewart to bring readers Vinyl, a celebration of music and how it brings meaning and motivation even to hardened killers.
Vinyl is a beautifully written and illustrated masterpiece about the power of friendship, the power of love, and, most importantly, the power of music.
When notorious serial killer Walter finds out that his best friend Dennis, the FBI agent charged with his apprehension, has been kidnapped by a female death cult, Walter goes to the ends of the earth to save Dennis from their clutches.
Walter recruits the most dangerous serial killers in America, and the group embarks on a suicide mission in the death cult’s underground labyrinth. During this adventure, the reader will be forced to ask which set of monsters is more horrific?
As I was reading Vinyl, I could not help but think of the Showtime series Dexter.
Like Dexter, we are asked to root for a murderous serial killer. However, unlike our titular antihero Dexter, a lone wolf for most of the series, Walter has powerful friends who are just as sick and twisted as himself. This unlikely band of misfits quickly goes up against another formidable group of killers and monstrous freaks that test their skills and resolve even though they are individually unstoppable killing machines.
Vinyl at its simplest could have been cheap, schlocky, gorefest.
Instead, Wagner, Hillyard, and Stewart created a tale that speaks to the very human conditions of friendship, love, betrayal, loss, and growing old. Like a song that gets stuck in your head on repeat, readers will find that the world of Vinyl is an instant classic and one that is worthy of several rereads and perhaps even a prequel or a sequel.
Final Score 4.5 out of 5
1 Comment