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Pick Of The Week: The New Deadwardians #1

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The only thing I am more obsessed with than horror comics is Victorian literature, and when I first heard about the plans for Vertigo’s The New Deadwardians, I was more than eager for it to launch. Yes, it is another Vertigo title that features blood suckers and brain eaters, but if you’re thinking of passing this one just because it’s got zombies and vampires, you’d better think again. I’m just as sick of the zombie/vampire craze as the next dude, but The New Deadwardians raises the played out subgenre from the dead, and breathes new life into zombie literature. Not only does it offer hope for the undead subgenre, but it’s a fantastic book overall. Plus, any book that begins with a quote from Isaac Asimov is worthy in my books. Read on for the skinny…

newdeadpick WRITTEN BY: Dan Abnett
ART BY: I.N.J. Culbard
PUBLISHER: Vertigo

The Victorian Gothic has been a passionate interest of mine for years, and it’s rare that you get to see a solid comic take place within that time period. For those that don’t know, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there was a huge divide among social classes, and the fear of the future was more ripe than ever before. Books released in that time period like Frankenstein, Dracula, or Jekyll and Hyde are testaments of the Victorian sensibilities.

Enter The New Deadwardians. Abnett sets up a brilliant social class commentary that places the vampires in the upper class and the rotting zombies in the lower class. This is sheer brilliance and it perfectly reflects ideals of Victorian society. What I like most about this is how it stays true to classic works of gothic literature in its social commentary, but it also brings something new that could not possibly have been done in the early 20th century by bringing in various forms of the undead.

I don’t believe any era of literature is more full of fear and terror than the Victorian era. It gave birth to some of the most famous works of Gothic literature and in many ways is responsible for the progression toward what horror is now. Though I am talking a lot about Gothic literature, it’s important to note that the book doesn’t force it down your throat at all. My point is that The New Deadwardians doesn’t include vampires and zombies just for the sake of it. They are not just following the fad, but Abnett is doing something meaningful and novel with the classic monsters that we have come to love (or maybe hate by now).

In the series the vampires are referred to as The Young, while the zombies are referred to as The Restless. The Young and the Restless…Get it? It is these subtle touches that make this book stand out. The central character, Chief Inspector Suttle, a vampire himself, is introduced by blowing off the head of a zombie eating his housemaid, but from thereon out the action slows and delves into a wicked murder mystery plotline full of little details to keep you reading.

The concept of having a vampire as one of the last homicide detectives in town works on so many levels. In a world where most beings are either immortal or undead, people just don’t get murdered like they used to, and the need for detectives is becoming obsolete. As the story continues, it just pulls you in more and more. There are a lot of little facts that will undoubtedly pop up again throughout the series. The final few pages are just breathtakingly executed and they represent the high caliber I have come to expect from Vertigo titles over the years. Without spoiling too much, let’s just say Chief Inspector Suttle is about to get a lot busier as homicide detective.

The team also does a helluva job introducing a large cast of characters in this issue, giving you just enough information to keep you coming back for the characters alone. Aside from Suttle, the supporting cast will have a big role throughout the run, and I’m excited to see how Abnett develops them along with the plotline.

The artwork is simple yet gorgeous, and it works perfectly with the Vicrotian/British feel of the book. The line work is super clean, and the color tones work well with the tight lines. What I love most about the art is how it’s not in your face like a lot of DC books right now. It doesn’t try to fly off the page to hit you with a KAPOW in the face, but it flows beautifully and matches the tone of the writing impeccably. It’s really tough to find art like this in mainstream comics but I’m glad I.N.J. Culbard is on board for this Gothic throwback.

As the series develops, I hope to see Abnett play around a bit more with social class satires and go further into Victorian society commentary, which in turn is a reflection of modern society. Of the four new Vertigo titles, The New Deadwardians is the winner by a knockout. Abnett and Culbard have once again instilled faith into the zombie/vampire world for what looks to be my new favorite series.

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[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream

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Tender Beth Hetland Graphic Novel

Beth Hetland’s debut graphic novel, ‘Tender,’ is a modern tale of love, validation, and self-destruction by way of brutal body horror with a feminist edge.

“I’ve wanted this more than anything.”

Men so often dominate the body horror subgenre, which makes it so rare and insightful whenever women tackle this space. This makes Beth Hetland’s Tender such a refreshing change of pace. It’s earnest, honest, and impossibly exposed. Tender takes the body horror subgenre and brilliantly and subversively mixes it together with a narrative that’s steeped in the societal expectations that women face on a daily basis, whether it comes to empowerment, family, or sexuality. It single-handedly beats other 2023 and ‘24 feminine horror texts like American Horror Story: Delicate, Sick, Lisa Frankenstein, and Immaculate at their own game.

Hetland’s Tender is American Psycho meets Rosemary’s Baby meets Swallow. It’s also absolutely not for the faint of heart.

Right from the jump, Tender grabs hold of its audience and doesn’t let go. Carolanne’s quest for romantic fulfillment, validation, and a grander purpose is easy to empathize with and an effective framework for this woeful saga. Carolanne’s wounds cut so deep simply because they’re so incredibly commonplace. Everybody wants to feel wanted.

Tender is full of beautiful, gross, expressive artwork that makes the reader squirm in their seat and itch. Hetland’s drawings are simultaneously minimalist and comprehensively layered. They’re  reminiscent of Charles Burns’ Black Hole, in the best way possible. There’s consistently inspired and striking use of spot coloring that elevates Hetland’s story whenever it’s incorporated, invading Tender’s muted world.

Hetland employs effective, economical storytelling that makes clever use of panels and scene construction so that Tender can breeze through exposition and get to the story’s gooey, aching heart. There’s an excellent page that depicts Carolanne’s menial domestic tasks where the repetitive panels grow increasingly smaller to illustrate the formulaic rut that her life has become. It’s magical. Tender is full of creative devices like this that further let the reader into Carolanne’s mind without ever getting clunky or explicit on the matter. The graphic novel is bookended with a simple moment that shifts from sweet to suffocating.

Tender gives the audience a proper sense of who Carolanne is right away. Hetland adeptly defines her protagonist so that readers are immediately on her side, praying that she gets her “happily ever after,” and makes it out of this sick story alive…And then they’re rapidly wishing for the opposite and utterly aghast over this chameleon. There’s also some creative experimentation with non-linear storytelling that gets to the root of Carolanne and continually recontextualizes who she is and what she wants out of life so that the audience is kept on guard.

Tender casually transforms from a picture-perfect rom-com, right down to the visual style, into a haunting horror story. There’s such a natural quality to how Tender presents the melancholy manner in which a relationship — and life — can decay. Once the horror elements hit, they hit hard, like a jackhammer, and don’t relent. It’s hard not to wince and grimace through Tender’s terrifying images. They’re reminiscent of the nightmarish dadaist visuals from The Ring’s cursed videotape, distilled to blunt comic panels that the reader is forced to confront and digest, rather than something that simply flickers through their mind and is gone a moment later. Tender makes its audience marinate in its mania and incubates its horror as if it’s a gestating fetus in their womb.

Tender tells a powerful, emotional, disturbing story, but its secret weapon may be its sublime pacing. Hetland paces Tender in such an exceptional manner, so that it takes its time, sneaks up on the reader, and gets under their skin until they’re dreading where the story will go next. Tender pushes the audience right up to the edge so that they’re practically begging that Carolanne won’t do the things that she does, yet the other shoe always drops in the most devastating manner. Audiences will read Tender with clenched fists that make it a struggle to turn each page, although they won’t be able to stop. Tender isn’t a short story, at more than 160 pages, but readers will want to take their time and relish each page so that this macabre story lasts for as long as possible before it cascades to its tragic conclusion. 

Tender is an accomplished and uncomfortable debut graphic novel from Hetland that reveals a strong, unflinching voice that’s the perfect fit for horror. Tender indulges in heightened flights of fancy and toes the line with the supernatural. However, Tender is so successful at what it does because it’s so grounded in reality and presents a horror story that’s all too common in society. It’s a heartbreaking meditation on loneliness and codependency that’s one of 2024’s must-read horror graphic novels.

‘Tender,’ by Beth Hetland and published by Fantagraphics, is now available.

4 out of 5 skulls

Tender graphic novel review

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