Comics
Twiztid’s Jamie Madrox Reviews Steve Niles’ ‘Freaks of the Heartland’
Twiztid’s Jamie Madrox is back with another Dark Horse Comics review. This time he takes on Steve Niles’ tale of freakish terror, “Freaks of the Heartland”. Hit the jump for his thoughts on the series.
From Jamie Madrox:
The second comic title I chose to read and review from Dark Horse Books was ‘Freaks of the Heartland’ story by Steve Niles, with art by Greg Ruth.
What starts off as a light hearted story quickly takes a dark turn as the reader gets familiar with the life of Trevor Owens, his abusive shit talking father, his mother who is seen and rarely ever heard, and most important of all his little 6 year old brother Will. Although Will is the baby of the family his monstrous deformity, strength and strange abilities find him chained in the barn behind the Owens’ family home kept out of sight.
The small town they live in has other families with kin just like young Will Owens, each kept in the dark, locked away like freakish animals. Until the day that Trevor and Will leave home in an effort to save young Will from certain death by the hands of their father and unknowingly set out on a journey that will ultimately join Will with others just like himself – freaks.
Steve Niles’ (30 Days Of Night / Batman: Gotham County Line) always finds a way of pinpointing the reader’s interest with dark tones, and a signature mood of sorts that is a style all his own. Freaks of the Heartland is a great example of a good twist story that makes you feel for the freaks rather than fear them.
Greg Ruth (New York Times / DC Comics / Dark Horse / The Matrix Comics) adds the perfect ambiance and setting for this Midwestern small town vibe. His art is deep and has a painting like quality to it referring to the color palette in which he uses in the panels to visually tell the story … very talented indeed.
READ THIS
– jAMIE Madrox
Pick up Freaks of the Heartland from Dark Horse Digital here.
The supernatural world of Korean folk horror movie Exhuma grows larger with the arrival of prequel spinoff webtoon Maengjong this weekend, Variety reports today.
Naver Webtoon debuts Maengjong on May 30.
The series hails from Haemuri (Olgami) and will trace the high school origins of how shaman duo Hwarim and Bonggil, played by Kim Go-eun and Lee Do-hyun in the 2024 film, came together to face occultish threats.
The story is set to begin when “Hwarim, who has been concealing her identity following a childhood encounter with a snake spirit called Jin, crosses paths with Bonggil at their school.”
Variety notes that Exhuma director Jang Jae-hyun participated in the project’s early concept stage.
“We are presenting ‘Maengjong,’ a new series capturing the appeal of the horror-occult genre, ahead of the full summer season,” said Lee Jeong-geun, Naver Webtoon’s Korea webtoon content leader. “With the high school story of Hwarim and Bonggil, who left a strong impression in the film ‘Exhuma,’ enhanced by Haemuri’s characteristic tense direction, we expect it will be a welcome work for genre fans.”
“It is meaningful that the spin-off story of ‘Exhuma,’ loved by many audiences, expands by meeting the new grammar of webtoon,” said Lee Hyeon-jeong, managing director of the film business division at Showbox, which distributed the film. “We hope it will be a fresh experience for both film fans and webtoon readers.”
Exhuma was a breakout hit in 2024, becoming the first Korean occult film to surpass 10 million ticket buyers and the country’s highest-grossing film of the year. I wrote in my review that “the intricately woven Exhuma delivers one of the year’s biggest surprises in horror so far.”
The bond between Hwarim and Bonggil was one of the film’s highlights, making this prequel webtoon a must for fans.
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