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Review: ‘East of West’ # 2

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Jonathan Hickman’s East of West # 2 continues to set the table with an impressive blend of genres. “East of West” is never truly sure of what type of story it is. Which may be its greatest strength, or its biggest weakness. The story here remains massive and as much more of the plot unravels, it manages to stay completely engrossing, but still mildly confusing.

WRITTEN BY: Jonathan Hickman
ART BY: Nick Dragotta
PUBLISHER: Image
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: April 24th, 2013

The slow boil continues, and this issue manages to be just as densely packed with information as the first issue was. Yet, here some of this information is beginning to make sense. The world is coming together, and we finally are beginning to understand the role Hickman’s characters play within it.

Don’t get too excited. Things still don’t make a whole lot of sense, not from what I could put together given the information on the pages. Yet, the issue still operates with breakneck pace and manages to keep things interesting. The action is dialed back from what we had seen in the first issue. World building takes center stage in the second issue. We are beginning to understand how and why our characters are in this world, and just how the apocalypse may come about.

It still feels amazing to have Hickman and Dragotta reunited on a new book. Dragotta’s art doesn’t slack whatsoever. Often issues that feature a lot of dialogue tend to slump in the art department. Dragotta begins the issue with a wonderful symphony of death that will wash any fears away. A beautiful mixture of thoughtful closeups and more emotionally distant medium shots allow the dialogue scenes to feel varied. Dragotta certainly has a strong talent in facial expressions; as such the art often speaks more than the dialogue accompanying it.

Again this issue is densely packed with information. Information that is beginning to make sense, but still makes for an inherently flawed issue. Hickman’s motivation is clear, which is the key to any good story. Yet, the story is shrouded in a thick fog of mystery. Which again, results in the reader asking themselves a multitude of questions. The answers have been slowly rolling out, but the fear of ultimate clarity remains Hickman’s biggest weakness. Hickman seems to love having the reader ask questions. Just, for the love of God, give us good answers.

The dystopian future has never looked more appealing. Hickman’s characters and story remain just as engrossing despite a slower pace for issue two. Hopefully Hickman can kick the action into high gear soon. “East of West” is wildly inventive, original, and a story that embraces the comic book medium. We very well may be on the ground floor of a new masterpiece here.

4/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – Jimbus_Christ

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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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