Heaven

A new Katie Skelly book is always cause for celebration. I have read pretty much every book she's made, including My Pretty Vampire, Operation Margarine, Nurse Nurse, and The Agency. I love her art style and comics sensibility. She makes some very engaging and gorgeous books.

In Heaven, she weaves a tale about four young women who are obsessed with a strange building on the outskirts of town. It is a strip club, but sometimes it's not there. And its online reviews are bizarre.

One of them, Dolly, an ex-gymnast who is from a troubled home and the only one who is 18, not only manages to enter the building, she auditions and gets a job. Her friends pump her for information, and what she finds is some very weird goings-on. The patrons are shady, and Lover, the owner, can be violent. Plus, Dolly gets to wear a vampire cape at work, which is a big plus for her.

The story has horror elements, with vampires, blood, and murder, but it is also a coming of age story about Dolly trying to find her place in the the world. This book is relatively brief, and it conveys its messages in very economical ways. I appreciated how it does not spell things out completely and leaves the burden on the reader to pick up on visual cues. 

All of the reviews I have read about this book have been positive. Neil Raymundo wrote that it "balances horror and youthful uncertainty with confidence, delivering a graphic novel that is accessible and quietly affecting." Justin Harrison called it " a compelling, grindhousey coming-of-age tale." Tate McFadden summed it up as "short and sweet."

Skelly speaks about her comics career and inspirations for Heaven in this interview.

Heaven was published by Fantagraphics, and they offer a preview and more info here. 

Sleep

Let me start off by saying that Zander Cannon is one of my favorite comics makers, and I have reviewed almost every book he's drawn. His series Kaijumax is one of the most enjoyable comics out there, as is his book Heck. He has also drawn a few nonfiction graphic novels along the way, including Bone Sharps Cowboys and Thunder Lizards, T-Minus, and The Stuff of Life. His art style is somewhat cartoonish, but also packs a punch in terms of drama, expression, and pacing. And I love that he adds lots of small touches that reward readers with multiple re-readings of his books.

Sleep is a horror comic, about a man named Jonathan Reason. When he falls asleep and wakes up, he finds himself in strange situations and amid carnage but with no memory of what has transpired.

He begins to realize that when he goes to sleep he becomes something else, something unknown to him. That something hurts and even kills people, and he does not know who to turn to for help. Jonathan has been a good Samaritan for most of his life, and he has one good friend, Tabby, who gives him support, but he is deeply troubled by the ethical consequences of his actions. Also, he has no idea why this is happening to him, or at all really.

Two things make this book work for me. The first is that it is told so that the reader is just as in the dark as Jonathan, which ramps up the tension and anxiety and conveys the horror story in a compelling and visceral way. Second, the black and white artwork is accentuated occasionally with the color red, in the form of Jonathan's glasses usually, but over the course of the book it also comes into play with the reveal of what has been happening. As soon as I finished reading the story, I started going back and seeing what information was being left as clues along the way, a hallmark of a book with exceptional plotting and execution.

Also, I have to say that this book really sticks the landing. The final image is simultaneously revelatory, terrible, and sweet, and it has haunted me since I read the book. If you are a fan of horror, go get this book in your hands as soon as you can.

All of the reviews I have read of this book have been positive. Eric Marcotte delved deeply into the philosophical aspects of Sleep and called it "a series where you will benefit from a second read-through – it is easy to miss a lot of subtle details and clues as you get caught up in the propulsive thriller aspects." Landon Kuhlmann called it "a slow-burn mystery that rewards patient readers."

Sleep was published by Image Comics, and they offer a preview and more info about it here. This book features violence, gore, and profanity, so it is recommended for readers mature enough to read about those things.

Francisco Goya "The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters"

 

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring

I recently borrowed this book from my local library. Libraries rule!

Rite of Spring is a continuation of the series Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, which I read and reviewed last year. In this book we flash forward eight years into the 1990s and the advent of the internet becoming commonplace in homes. With this new technology comes different ways to communicate and share/search for information, which transforms small town living and also begins to complicate Samantha's life. It turns out that people searching for murder victims can track clues and share info on message boards, which brings Monica, a persistent and determined duck, to town to figure out what happened to her brother Daniel, who was one of Samantha's victims.

Monica's momentum is formidable, which makes it compelling to see how Samantha deals with her. This book has just as many twists and turns as the original series, with Samantha trying to stay ahead of her pursuer(s) while pretending to befriend and assist them. Secretly, she is also planning a pretty vicious response of her own. Additionally, her past is explored and the origins of her murderous ways are revealed (to the reader anyhow). 

The artwork is charmingly disturbing in how it uses the cuteness of funny animals to embody horror movie tropes. The gory bits are more shocking in their realism when juxtaposed with the general picture book animal qualities. Overall, I was impressed by how well plotted and creepy this book is, and the way it ends promises more dreadful deeds to come, which I will eagerly await.

Patrick Horvath wrote and drew this series, with lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Horvath has written and directed a number of movies, and beyond this debut series of his he also is writing the Archie in Hell mini-series. Otsmane-Elhaou has lettered books for many different publishers and also was a co-editor of PanelxPanel, an excellent, Eisner Award-winning web journal about comics. Horvath speaks about this follow-up story arc and future installments in this interview.

The reviews I have read of this book have been positive, though some point out the let-down that can come with a sequel. David Brooke wrote that it "successfully builds on the original series with a compelling new protagonist, emotional depth, and chilling visuals." Ian Keogh called it "very readable, but not as strong as the first outing." Greg Burgas wrote about having "serial killer fatigue" in general but still found it to be "a fairly worthwhile comic."

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: Rite of Spring was published by IDW, and they offer more info about it here. This book is not for kids.