Written by Landry Q. Walker
Art by Justin Greenwood,
Brad Simpson, Pat Brosseau
Published by Dark Horse Comics
Artist Justin Greenwood is certainly making a name for himself with his artwork these days.
Every time I open up a comic book that he has drawn, it is something really great. This book is no different. It is a strong book with plenty of horror to it that is right up my alley.
I loved every second of it and each page had something new and exciting to it. I had a lot of fun with this one for sure and enjoyed it very much. The story and the structure of the story is pretty great as well.
Honestly, this is a great package, and I loved every second of this gruesome horror tale.
From the start of the book, we are introduced a group of friends (who are really more frenemies) who are looking into a spooky mine.
They go to a remote town to find and explore this mine. The book is unique at the beginning because it shows Saturday first where everything is going to hell in a hand basket. It shows a lot of the results and horror up front. It also doesn’t hold back from the gruesomeness.
But then, the book flashes back to Friday. This shows the characters before everything goes to hell. It gives the book some time to develop the characters and show the reader just who they are. We learn that these characters are all terrible people and we get to see that they are all really jerks. Some however though, they are come across as likable characters, even if they are jerks. It is hilarious and fun to hang out with for sure. We all know the fate that a lot of these characters will meet but it is still fun to hang out with them regardless of anything.
We learn through the characters that the entire remote town fell victim to the cleaver of the Butcher of La Perdita maybe a hundred years ago.
However, there is still rumblings and rumors that a version of the butcher is still out there. Can it be so?
Or are these rumors and rumblings false?
Well, as you can guess, there is a version of the Butcher of La Perdita out there hitting the streets, and all of the characters that we got to know over the course of the book start getting wiped out. It is a bunch of fun watching that happen to them as well!
A lot of the deaths are forecasted and foreshadowed on pretty heavily. Anyone who has ever seen a horror film will know what is coming. Yet, it doesn’t matter as it is all part of the fun. And this would make a good horror film for sure. There is a lot to like and it would be a bloody good time to watch this on the big screen. Maybe someone will adapt it for the screen? Who knows but they could certainly do worse.
By the end of the book, none of the characters have happy fates. But that is all part of the game here and the game of a book like this.
Someone had compared this book to the film Star Wars: Rogue One (but in the horror genre). I can definitely see that comparison. There is a lot of overlap with themes and story structure, but this book more than stands on its own. The book really is made for horror fans but really, anyone who is intrigued by a good story can read it and enjoy it to the fullest. It is really well done.
A good villain is hard to come by and the Butcher of La Perdita is definitely a good villain. They are well made and well designed and the character really does shine. I have to give props to Justin Greenwood for the design of the character. It is really good. All of the characters are well drawn here and the storytelling is great.
The writing by Landry Q. Walker is top notch as well. I haven’t read anything by him before, but he has a great sense of both comic book writing and horror. Not many can do that.
Overall this is a strong book and I hope they make more of them (and maybe a movie!).
RATING: A-
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