Comics

Review: ‘Hellraiser: The Dark Watch’ #8

Published

11 years ago

September 19, 2013

“Hellraiser: The Dark Watch” #8 has the right balance of disturbing scares and dark humor. Clive Barker’s revisit to the “Hellraiser” franchise continues to make its stamp in the comic book medium. The last page brings in a new twist that readers will not expect.

WRITTEN BY: Clive Barker and Brandon Seifert
ART BY: Tom Garcia
PUBLISHER: Boom! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: Sept. 18th, 2013

Trapped as prisoners inside an orb, Kirsty Cotton and Elliot Spencer are at each other’s throat, destined to kill each other. Never giving up, Tiffany has been looking everywhere for her adoptive mother, but has failed many times to rescue Kirsty. After discovering that Harry D’Amour secretly knew Kirsty’s whereabouts, Tiffany doesn’t know if she can trust him anymore. With her demon-killing knife, Tiffany must follow an old enemy of Harry’s past straight into the depths of Hell. But if Tiffany successfully saves Kirsty from Hell, will she bring about the end of the world as well?

As the issues progressed, Barker and co-writer, Brandon Seifert, have developed Tiffany into a tough and rebellious heroine. Tiffany has become a major highlight of the “Dark Watch” series and her character arc continues to grow. Though I thought of Kirsty and Tiffany as having a “sister” relationship, I really liked how these writers have explored their mother/daughter relationship. Though they are not related by blood, Tiffany has never given up in her pursuit to rescue Kirsty. But will there be any rewards, a sense of satisfaction, when Tiffany does finally find her?

If you remember “Lord of Illusions,” the major antagonist, Butterfield, has returned to the Hellraiser universe. More of a conniving trickster, Butterfield continues to play his own mind games to get what he wants. I am anxious to see a rematch between Harry and Butterfield. Though his sarcasm remains the same, Harry has become more than the regular guy thrown into an extraordinary situation. I look forward to seeing what Butterfield, who was a fanatical cult leader in the movie, will do to the Cenobites.

Artist Tom Garcia definitely knows how to illustrate the gruesomeness of monsters. When Butterfield transforms into his new body, his appearance looks like a giant worm with claws. The only recognizable part of his human half is his head. Butterfield uses his enormous slithering body, to wrap his enemies around and squeeze them, like a snake. To add to the torture, Butterfield licks his squirming enemy with his drooling tongue.

Inside the orb, the more Kirsty and Elliot fight, the less they have of their humanity. Using the metaphor, Garcia captures close-ups of Kirsty’s farcical expressions, depicting her never-ending struggle to hold onto her humanity. In an eerie scene of body horror, Elliot has nothing left of his humanity as his face melts. The monster inside Elliot is coming out and there is nothing to hold him back.

Fans will be very excited with what happens at the shocking last page of “Hellraiser: The Dark Watch” #8. After so many disappointing sequels, the “Hellraiser” franchise has settled nicely into the comic book medium. Horror fans should definitely be picking up “The Dark Watch”.

4.5/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – Jorge Solis

Lonnie Nadler

4 Comments

Comics

‘Archie Comics: Judgment Day’ Exclusive Preview: Step into the Most Horrifying Version of Riverdale Ever Seen!

Published

5 days ago

April 11, 2024

John Squires

The Archie Horror label is unleashing apocalyptic thrills in Archie Comics: Judgment Day, a multi-issue demon apocalypse story billed as the first Archie Premium Event.

With their extended length and scale, comics under the brand new Archie Premium Event banner tell Archie stories that are “simply too grand for a single one-shot release.”

From writer Aubrey Sitterson and artist Megan Hutchison, Bloody Disgusting has been provided with a 6-page sequence from the upcoming Archie Comics: Judgment Day #1!

The Archie Comics team previews, “Prepare for a spine-tingling journey into the heart of Riverdale with Archie Comics: Judgment Day, an epic three-issue event set to captivate readers with a tale of demonic forces, moral quandaries, and the relentless quest for righteousness.”

Hitting shelves on May 22, 2024 from the Archie Horror imprint, the Archie Premium Event miniseries reimagines the iconic Archie Comics characters in a dark supernatural setting and promises the most horrifying version of Riverdale we’ve ever seen.

Judgment Day sets Archie Andrews on a daring quest to cleanse an alternate version of Riverdale overrun by demons. After claiming some destructive powers of his own, Archie is forced to destroy corrupted versions of the people closest to him, ostensibly in the name of the greater good.

As questions about his own morality and the sacrifices he’s made start to pile up, Archie must confront the question: are his efforts truly good, or the work of pure evil?

Writer Aubrey Sitterson tells Bloody Disgusting, “Judgment Day is my very first horror book, it’s at a company that’s extraordinarily well known for their takes on the genre, and my cocreator has a tremendous affinity and talent for horror; as a result, I felt significant pressure to get things right.”

“Recently, there’s been a trend in horror – across mediums – that works on a directly metaphorical level, a type of riddle that the audience figures out in order to unlock the message of the work,” Sitterson’s statement continues. “For Judgment Day, however, my goal was to create something that encourages people to spend time with it; something worth puzzling over as opposed to a puzzle to complete. It’s an approach that dovetails nicely with my recent efforts to write in deeper consideration of page design and the visual exploration of themes. It’s all about harnessing horror tropes and conventions as well as the iconic Archie cast to create something new and challenging that can’t be summed up with one-to-one correlations.”

Artist Megan Hutchison adds, “I knew of Aubrey and his work, and a chance to work with him is such an exciting opportunity! Once we had our first chat on the phone, I knew we were going to have so much fun. We have such similar tastes and temperaments and agreed on the same things! Instant friends! We’re also huge fans of the same horror and movie genres (including huge Dune nerds; ask us about it!) that have found their way into this book.”

“I’ve felt so supported though this whole process by Aubrey — I’ll text him an idea and he’ll love it, then we’ll go off about something horrific and dorky that we’re super into and that will make its way into the book,” Megan continues. “He also intentionally writes scenes for me with a lot of demons and crazy action and weird gothy stuff so that I can go and have fun. It’s been an amazing process and I hope to continue it after this. Also, if you haven’t read his other work, do yourself a favor — he’s one of the best writers and people working in comics right now.”

Take a peek inside the pages of Archie Comics: Judgment Day #1 below!