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5 Skull Review: ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10’ #1

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Having fiercely demonstrated their ability to authentically tackle the BuffyVerse through Dark Horse’s blazingly sublime series “Angel & Faith”, Christos Gage and Rebekah Isaacs, take the reins on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10” with overwhelmingly impressive results.

WRITTEN BY: Christos Gage
ART BY: Rebekah Isaacs
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $3.50
RELEASE: March 19, 2014

Following the apocalypse-thwarting — and ultimately game-changing — finale that boldly altered the series’ established vampire mythology, the terrific twosome passionately and purposefully set the gears in motion for what, presumably, is going to be an incredibly fun season. As both a refresher issue, and an exciting teaser chapter for what’s to come in regards to last season’s unresolved story developments, “New Rules” Part One will thoroughly engage readers, as Gage and Isaacs deliver an entertaining, action-fueled, and plot-driven opener, with undeniably flawless representations of the series’ characters, in both dialogue and artistic likeness.

Without revealing too much, the narrative picks up in Santa Rosita, where Buffy and co are taking care of the dwindling zompire infestation alongside an untrustworthy vampire gang that is working to achieve the same goal. War does indeed make for strange bedfellows — or in this case, a zombie vampire pandemic in Southern California is enough to fill the “Enemy Mine” trope — but the reluctant team-up will prove to be significant when the gang is faced with the repercussions from their battle inside the Deeper Well. Magic has been restored in the BuffyVerse thanks to Willow birthing a new Seed, and the Old One, Maloker, was ultimately defeated within the ancient tomb. But at the troubling cost of the VAMPYR book being completely wiped blank, and new vampires developing disturbingly evolved powers.

Gage manages to provide just enough exposition regarding these new developments without the script becoming too exhaustive or repetitive, by using Buffy’s categorically spot-on, self-deprecating inner-dialogue, and the story’s non-stop action, to his narrative-building advantage. Isaacs keeps up with the accelerated pace of the issue with a remarkable display of talent and artistic vision that is untouchable within the confines of the Whedonverse. Simply the best, she excels where many artists tend to fail when illustrating character likeness, physical movement, and flashy sorcery. The latter of which really pops, courtesy of Dan Jackson’s dynamic colors. With an impressive color palette and beautiful visual depth, Jackson adds a lot of value to the finished pages, and is a great addition to the creative team. He and Isaacs work in tandem to bring Gage’s story to life, with a strong attention to detail, and bold artistic style.

“New Rules” Part One feels like a reunion chapter, of sorts, considering the amount of familiar characters prominently featured in the script, both anticipated and unexpected. All perfectly voiced and drawn. This feeling is further driven home by a fantastically emotional reveal of one sorely missed, and extremely cherished individual near the end of the issue. If Gage’s dialogue doesn’t do the trick, Isaacs’ pencils will. The entire issue is a testament to the genuine understanding Gage has for the BtVS universe and fandom, and his natural ability as a fantastic comic book writer. The same goes for Isaacs and her unquestionable knack for visual storytelling.

“Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10” #1 is an A+ accomplishment on all accounts, and the fandom couldn’t have asked for a better creative team behind the pages.

5/5 Skulls

Reviewed 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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