‘Double Walker’ TPB (review)

Written by Michael W. Conrad
Art by Noah Bailey
Published by Dark Horse Books

It’s hard to deny that the late 1960s-early 1970s was the Golden Age of Made-for TV movies. New classics in all genres popped up nearly every week for several years. Those of a certain age will remember the creepiness of such TV horror movies as When Michael Calls and Crowhaven Farm.

That’s the vibe I get from the new graphic novel, Double Walker, by Michael W. Conrad and Noah Bailey.

I think it’s the pacing and the relative simplicity of the book that makes me think of one of those long-ago TV movies.  It certainly isn’t the nudity, disembowelments, or F-bombs because, of course, there was no HBO back then. But no, this is the story of a young American couple visiting rural Scotland. I envision Andrew Prine and Sally Field in the roles.

The wife is pregnant, but after an incident on a supposedly haunted mountain, she loses the baby and begins acting strangely.

While the locals down the pub regale the husband with tales of baby-stealing fae folk and other evil legends, bodies start to turn up, and the police take note of the fact that the young couple always seems to be nearby when it happens. I see bushy-bearded Burl Ives as the main investigating officer.

This is another of those books where the “cinematography” is great, making one almost feel as though he’s watching a film. But neither does the artist fail to take advantage of the fact that comics have their own unique structures. Page after page, the confidant use of blacks offsets the pale color scheme used throughout.

The reader seems to be able to feel the wind, the rain, and the ever-rising fear of the husband. He’s a modern man living in a modern world who is forced to confront the truth that there are things beyond his understanding.

I can’t say Double Walker is a fun read, but it’s a good one, and one that grabs you at several points. And that’s what a good horror story should do, isn’t it?

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