Daphne Byrne #4
Written by: Joe Hill, Laura Marks
Art by: Dan McDaid, Kelley Jones
On Sale Date: April 28, 2020
Daphne has found an ally in Mr. Brooke, a skeptic and expert on the manipulations of Spiritualism. But when a more immediate danger threatens her life, she’ll learn something very surprising about Brother-the powerful spirit she thought had her best interests at heart…
Dying is Easy #4 (of 5)
(W) Joe Hill (A/CA) Martin Simmonds
In Shops: Mar 25, 2020
SRP: $3.99
From the powerhouse team of Joe Hill (Locke & Key) and Martin Simmonds (Punks Not Dead) comes the fourth chapter in the inaugural Syd “Sh*t-Talk” Homes mystery!
Syd finds himself out of the frying pan, up the creek, and, well, sh*t outta luck-but when a talk with his ex-wife shines light on new information about the death of joke thief and general a-hole Carl Dixon, Syd just might have the lead he needs to clear his name…
Basketful of Heads #6 (of 7)
(W) Joe Hill (A) Leomacs (CA) Igor Kordey
In Shops: Mar 25, 2020
SRP: $3.99
Hill House Comics
In the darkest and most desperate hours of the night, June Branch will use her impossible occult hatchet to cut her way back to her boyfriend. But time is running out for Liam, and June’s basket is getting heavier with every new swing of the axe! It’s all going down in the penultimate chapter of the gonzo gorefest that launched Hill House Comics!
I’m not much of a horror fan but Plunge #2 delivers chills and unease. It’s exactly the type I like. Written by Joe Hill, the second issue picks up on the discovery of a dead body and from there just layers on the creepy factor.
What Hill does especially well is pile on new mysteries while not frustrating the reader. We’re two issues in and reveals would be a bit premature but at no point is it frustrating. I found myself uttering “wtf” multiple times but that’s part of the fun and entertainment.
This isn’t horror in the hacker/slasher sense. Hill’s delivery is a tense psychological thriller that may have a big bad bug as the actual villain. Or, is it all psychological? Hill keeps us guessing.
But Hill goes beyond the scares and makes sure to deliver characters we’ll like. While Plunge #2 dials back the character focus it still gives us a bunch of solid moments. There’s enough humor to break the tension and already I found myself reacting to actions like “don’t go in there.” There’s that internal interactive element that makes horror fun. It helps too that so far all of the characters are likeable. Some are more so than others but none are at the point you want to see them die, even the shady ones I have my questions about.
All of this is helped by Stuart Immonen‘s art and Dave Stewart‘s colors. There’s an unease about it all. The blues of the comic gives it all a sickly feel in a way adding to the vibe of it all. The comic is all about giving the reader an off feel about everything. What should be straightforward often isn’t with enough detail to create angst without grossing readers out. At no point does the comic go into over the top gore but there’s more than enough to get to the point of disturbing.
Plunge #2 continues the psychological horror thriller adding to the mystery of it all and going for unease instead of scares. It delivers a fantastic mix of characters and settings with a look that helps create a creepy tone. This is a must for those that enjoy this sort of horror and for even those that don’t.
Story: Joe Hill Art: Stuart Immonen
Color: Dave Stewart Letterer: Deron Bennett
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Plunge #2 (of 6)
(W) Joe Hill (A) Stuart Immonen (CA) Jeremy Wilson
In Shops: Mar 18, 2020
SRP: $3.99
Hill House Comics
After discovering a corpse upon the Sinnikik Atoll, Moriah Lamb leads a team to hunt for other castaways, while Gage Carpenter begins the exploration of the ghost ship Derleth. But there’s something down there in the icy darkness of the Arctic sea, something that doesn’t want to be found. And it isn’t any safer on land. There are things waiting for the search party in the mountain caves, things that were once human…and aren’t quite anymore.
Dying is Easy #3 (of 5)
(W) Joe Hill (A/CA) Martin Simmonds
In Shops: Feb 26, 2020
SRP: $3.99
From the powerhouse team of Joe Hill (Locke & Key) and Martin Simmonds (Punks Not Dead) comes the third chapter in the inaugural Syd “Sh*t-Talk” Homes mystery!
Syd Homes, having just Indiana Jones’d his way out of certain death, finds himself once again up the creek without a paddle. The Ross Brothers, suspects number one and two respectively in the death of joke stealer and general thief Carl Dixon, have just found themselves an alibi-which means Syd’s back on the Most Wanted list. Good thing he’s totally cool under pressure, because getting out of this jam may or may not involve posing as a stuntman… Well, as they say-life is short, comedy is hard, and dying is really f*cking easy!
Basketful of Heads #5 (of 7)
(W) Joe Hill (A) Leomacs (CA) Reiko Murakami
In Shops: Feb 26, 2020
SRP: $3.99
June Branch is the prisoner of a desperate and violent man who wants information. But who’s really interrogating who here? June’s wits are sharp, but the occult Viking axe she has stashed nearby is even sharper… if only she can talk her way out of the cell she’s in and get it back in her hands!
While I’m not a horror fan, there’s a certain type I do enjoy. Those tense stories whose focus is more on the build-up than cheap scares are more in my wheelhouse. Plunge #1 delivers that and more in a fist issue that’s full of tension and character.
Written by Joe Hill, Plunge #1 isn’t anything particularly new. Instead, it does things we’ve seen before really well. A nautical experience, Plunge tells the story of a ship that begins to emit a distress signal nearly 40 years after it wrecked. What happened? Why the sudden signal? That’s all a part of the mystery. We know things are going to go smoothly in the salvage, we just don’t know how it’ll go sideways. And that’s part of the enjoyment.
Beyond the tension, Hill focuses on the characters. Each has a lot of personality and by issue’s end, you’ve got a good sense as to who everyone is. There’s also some solid laughs that break up what easily could have been a serious and dour first issue. The comic almost goes out of its way for laughs and that focus is a smart one. It makes the horror of it all a bit more ominous. You get the sense there’s something looming, even when you’re guard is down laughing about rubber dicks.
Stuart Immonen‘s art is fantastic. Along with Dave Stewart‘s colors and Deron Bennett‘s lettering, the visuals build on that subtle dread Hill goes fore. With lots of blues and browns, there’s a dirty but organic feel to the art that, much like the characters has personality. That’s the aspect that really stands out. Immonen’s style plays well to the character interactions with highly expressive looks and delivery of dialogue. There’s an almost play like aspect to it all. Bennett’s lettering too becomes key as the story progresses and we get to the final reveal. It delivers a style that emphasizes the shock of it all.
Plunge #1 is a fantastic debut. It’s a must for horror fans and especially for those who like films like the Abyss, Jaws, and Leviathan. We’re just in the setup phase but the mix of characters and missions creates a start that’s beyond engaging and a hell of a beginning.
Story: Joe Hill Art: Stuart Immonen
Color: Dave Stewart Letterer: Deron Bennett
Story: 10 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy
DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Plunge #1 (of 6)
(W) Joe Hill (A) Stuart Immonen (CA) Jeremy Wilson
In Shops: Feb 19, 2020
SRP: $3.99
In the aftermath of a devastating tsunami, an exploration vessel known as the Derleth begins sending an automated distress signal from a remote atoll in the Bering Strait. The only problem is that the Derleth has been missing for 40 years. Marine biologist Moriah Lamb joins the Carpenter Salvage team to recover the Derleth’s dead…only to find that in this remote part of the Arctic Circle the dead have plenty to say to the living…Joe Hill and Stuart Immonen’s Plunge into terror begins here!
In the beginning of “Echoes” we come full circle and through flashbacks, we see that Ellie is the one who made the call that caused the man to use the key to burn himself in the premiere. We also learn that Lucas showed up at Ellie’s right after the well lady, aka Dodge, escaped and asked her for help, which is what she was doing in the house when Nina found her a few episodes back, she was stealing a tiara “The Crown of Shadows” and, looking for one thing he couldn’t find, the key that he wanted to go along with it.
We also solve the mystery of what got Mr. Ridgeway killed, he snapped a picture of Lucas and Ellie talking on his cellphone and was going to tell Nina about it, once he got the phone, despite Ellie protesting, he killed him and tried to make it look like a suicide. Lucas then used the anywhere key to escape leaving Ellie alone there when Nina showed up and discovered the body and tried to save him while Ellie used that chance to sneak out and run home where she confronts Lucas and shoots him multiple times but, he doesn’t die because he’s an Echo. We then discover Ellie’s motivation for helping him, he threatened to kill Rufus.
Back in the present, Kinsey & Tyler finally show Bode the memory of the demon dodge and what really happened to Lucas, when Bode identifies him as Rufus’ cousin. Back at Ellie’s Lucas tasks her to search Rendell’s ashes to find the Omega Key. Bode visits Rufus and fills him in on what’s going on and Rufus, in turn, shows him the crown, setting Bode up to go on a quest to find the other key to save his family and his friend.
WHAT WORKED: Throughout the season each episode has built upon the mythology of the keys and the story from the previous episode. In “Echoes” we get a more detailed account of all of the missing pieces that bring the story for this season together, just in time for the finale. I loved the mystery based cinematography, the writing was well done and clever, the acting made me forget that I was watching a TV show and I found myself really invested in the lives of the Locke kids and the possible mental deterioration of their mom, Nina. This episode continued the trend of organically unraveling a story so that the viewer felt like a part of the story itself instead of just an observer. This episode was a good way to tie up the loose ends and lingering questions about what was going on with the keys and who Dodge was. We also learn why Mark killed himself so that Dodge couldn’t get the remaining keys by getting into his head since he hid the remaining keys. It was more than a placeholder, it was a box of index cards with a highlighter so that people would know what was up for the season finale and it was helpful & informative, while still maintaining some entertainment value.
BEST MOMENT: When Dodge gets the key, I don’t know if it was the music or the action or the sheer sinister nature of his grin and action, or a combo of all for but, it was epic evil and a nice solid way to end the episode and force you to skip the credits and intro to get right into the next episode so you could see how it ends.
BEST LINE:
“I know I should choose but, what if I didn’t?”- Kinsey to Scot and Gabe (on her having feeling for them both and deciding to be honest) then she dipped before they could answer to take a phone call and tells them to “Think about it!” as she walked away, which was a boss move, filled with self- awareness and autonomy and I loved it.
EPISODE MVP: TIE-
Bode, DUH! I mean he’s the only character in this show consistently with his head on straight, he is the stuff of Arthurian legends are made of. He’s brave, true, honest and compassionate. He’s also the only one who isn’t hellbent on using the keys for personal gain and it’s nice to see him be the voice of reason because of his age but, like his dad always said, and he reminds Kinsey & Tyler, ” I’m very discerning for my age.” Yes, you are young man. Yes, you are!
and,
Rufus! Hiding keys, watching everything, dry snitching for the benefit of his fellow man, he does the right thing, even if he’s told he shouldn’t, he’s not afraid to ask for help and he’s brave AF! He’s amazing and kind and if this was Harry Potter he’d be Gryfindor down so, I’m here for it.
OVERALL: 8.9
