Review: "Clive Barker's Nightbreed" #2 - Bloody Disgusting
Connect with us

Comics

Review: “Clive Barker’s Nightbreed” #2

Published

10 years ago

on

An exciting follow-up, “Clive Barker’s Nightbreed” #2 continues to expose readers to a vivid nightmare filled with exotic creatures and terrifying monsters. Based on Clive Barker’s “Cabal” novella, this spinoff comic explores the inhabitants that live in the subterranean city of Midian. Just like with the “Hellraiser” series, there is so much potential here to tell original stories that could make “Nightbreed” a real winner to horror fans.


Nightbreed_02_coverAWRITTEN BY: Clive Barker and Marc Andreyko
ART BY: Piotr Kowalski
PUBLISHER: Boom! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: June 25, 2014

Reviewed by: Jorge Solis

 

 

 

 

 


Down in the bayou swamps of Louisiana, Lizzy was paddling through the murky waters, hoping to find salvation from the racist murderers. Her rescuer is the disfigured and violent stranger, known as Peloquin. After being turned, Lizzy wants sweet revenge against those hurt her. Elsewhere, a politician steps into a secret brothel, meeting a mysterious girl who will fulfill his every sexual desire. Temptation has led him to Shuna and lust won’t let him leave from her private quarters.

Importantly, Barker keeps the essential themes from the novella, such as monsters seen as outcasts and the never-ending horrors of humanity, in the comic book series. Co-writer Marc Andreyko gives larger roles to minor characters and develops their back-story. Peloquin is really a reluctant anti-hero but because of his hideous skin, others see him as the villain. Andreyko has a lot to say about racism through Peloquin’s tragic misunderstanding.

Andreyko splits the plot between Peloquin’s revenge story and Senator Emery’s descent into madness. The pacing is much different this time around because both subplots seem to gain momentum right from the start. Shuna represents the intrigue of unbridled sexuality and the brutal force of male domination. Interestingly, Senator Emery’s thirst for power means treating Shuna any way he wants.

Artist Piotr Kowalski doesn’t shy away from the graphic violence in his gritty illustrations. In just one panel, Kowalski captures the unforgiving brutality of slavery. The whipping is shown from the point-of-view of Peloquin’s frightened perspective. It’s almost like he has seen this before, from a different time period. Peloquin’s rugged wardrobe suggests he might have been a chained-up prisoner and managed to escape.

Kowalski is able to portray Shuna as a seductress and a naive little girl. In close-ups, Shuna is more teasing and in control of the senator. But when Kowalski cuts to a wide shot, Shuna’s nudity isn’t meant to be alluring. Everything that was exotic about her will be tainted by the near-rape scene. There is a lot of symbolism and interpretation in Kowalski’s artwork that readers will instantly pick up on.

Horror fans are definitely going to get a kick out of the last page of “Clive Barker’s Nightbreed” #2. Just reading the “Nightbreed” comic makes me want to reread Clive Barker’s novella and check up on “The Cabal Cut.”

Related Topics:
Advertisement
Click to comment

Comics

‘The Toxic Avenger’ Returns with Cover Artwork for First Issue of New Comic Book Series [Exclusive]

Published

1 week ago

on

May 13, 2024

By

With a remake on the way and a new 4K restoration of the original classic now streaming, it’s a good time to be a fan of Troma’s The Toxic Avenger. Additionally, Matt Bors — the founder of The Nib and a political cartoonist who has twice been named a Pulitzer Prize finalist —and acclaimed artist Fred Harper (Snelson) are collaborating on an all-new 5-issue comic book series starring the satirical superhero of the Troma Films cult classic films!

TOXIC AVENGER #1 will land in stores on October 9, 2024.

While you wait, you can exclusively check out the issue #1 cover art from Fred Harper below, along with a set of emojis designed by Harper for the extremely online teens of Tromaville.

“The Toxic Avenger delivers what Troma fans want,” said AHOY Comics Editor-in-Chief Tom Peyer. “The series has violent action, gross mutations, bursting pustules, eye-popping visuals, and trenchant humor.” 

“If there was ever a superhuman hero for these toxic, miserable times, Toxie is the one!” said Lloyd Kaufman. “Only AHOY Comics and Bors & Harper could pull this off…er…mop this up! Toxie and the Troma Team can’t wait ‘til you read -no, experience – the art and stories that the Toxic Avenger Comic Book will explode in your brain, your soul, and your heart. Above all, remember – Toxie loves you and so do I.”

“This series will combine elements of the original films with the Toxic Crusaders cartoon and characters in familiar ways, updated to tell a story of environmental devastation, corporate control, and social media mutation,” said Bors. “The Toxic Avenger is first and foremost an environmental satire, one about a small town and its unremarkable people trapped and transformed by circumstances they don’t control. The story Fred Harper and I are telling is about people frustrated by authorities telling them not to worry about their life, that things are fine, even as their dog mutates in front of their eyes. And at its core it is about a powerless boy, Melvin, who finds out he can be incredibly strong, hideously mutated, well-admired, and incredibly heroic… but still ultimately powerless over human behavior.”

In The Toxic Avenger, teenager Melvin Junko helps run his parent’s junkyard in Tromaville, a small town in New Jersey where nothing much ever happens — until an ill-timed train derailment of toxic waste transforms Melvin into a hideously deformed creature of superhuman size and strength: the Toxic Avenger!

Under a media blackout imposed by Biohazard Solutions (BS) and their PR-spewing Chairwoman Lindsay Flick, Melvin emerges as a hero fighting against BS and the mutated threats that keep popping up around Tromaville.

Eventually Melvin uncovers a vast conspiracy more far-reaching than he could have ever imagined — but he knows if everyone is simply made aware of the crisis, they’ll act to stop it. Right?

Continue Reading