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Review: ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow – Wonderland’ #2

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Jeff Parker’s knack for writing increasingly engaging scripts is fantastically supported by Brian Ching’s ability to give life to them through Michelle Madsen’s alluring explosion of colours on the pages of Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Willow – Wonderland #2. This second installment has a lot to offer in terms of plot development and sees the exciting return of an iconic past lover to the BufyVerse.

WRITTEN BY: Jeff Parker
ART BY: Brian Ching
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: December 5th

Part Two continues with our protagonist’s tumultuous journey through this bizarre, Lewis Carroll inspired, dimension, as she carries out her quest to restore magic on Earth. With the mysterious conjuror Marrak by her side, the issue finds Willow impulsively indulging in magic due to the plenteous supply the dimension has to offer. Her power seems limitless in this realm, casting spell after spell to get out of extreme life and death situations; but from what history suggests, her compulsive nature doesn’t bode well for the successful suppression of “Dark Willow”.

The rest of the issue follows Willow and Aluwyin’s reunion, and introduces the readers to a handful of Aluwyn’s exotically drawn, and peculiarly interesting, companions. You know the creative team is doing something right when you find yourself being taken in by these new characters upon first meeting them. There are a couple wonderfully ominous cameos by some major players in the BuffyVerse, which tie directly to the grand narrative of “Buffy Season 9”. And a few major plot developments concerning the broken Scythe, and the deterioration of Willow’s main theory regarding how to restore magic on Earth.

Michelle Madsen’s use of green and purple lighting helps to brighten up Brian Ching’s awesomely drawn panels; and Jason Gorder does a fine job inking the pages, particularly for the panels depicting the characters’ night endeavors. Keeping up with Parker’s writing and engaging readers is no problem for this art team.

I’m glad Dark Horse and Whedon have enough faith in Willow to give the witch her own mini-series. There’s nothing superfluous or contrived about Parker’s storytelling, and everything that happens within the pages is blatantly relevant to the main narrative of Season 9. That’s all the fandom wants from these solo minis; and that’s what Parker delivers. Issue #2 ends on a depressing note, and the readers are left to wonder what Willow’s next plan of action is, and how far she’s willing to go to get what she wants. If this installment is any indication, next month’s issue is only going to up its game.

4/5 Skulls

Review by – ShadowJayd

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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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