Comics
More Details On Thing-Inspired “Spread”
Justin Jordan and Kyle Strahm’s new series looks to be one for longtime horror fans to follow, evoking imagery similar to John Carpenter’s classic, The Thing. We scooped up some details on the series last week, but Image has released further information including a synopsis that makes the book even more intruiging.
Look for “Spread” #1 in shops July 9, 2014.
From the press release:
Justin Jordan (DEAD BODY ROAD, Luther Strode) and Kyle Strahm (HACK/SLASH, HAUNT) team up for a new science-fiction thriller, SPREAD, a horrifying story of inevitable death and slim hope. Enthusiasm for SPREAD will prove infectious and launch with a social media contest. Post the cover image of SPREAD #1 with the caption “it’s spreading…” and tag @kstrahm and @Justin_Jordan on Twitter and/or Facebook with the hashtag #itsspreading for for a chance to cameo as an extra character in the book, plus other SPREAD swag. Winners will be revealed on the day of release, July 9.
Ten years ago, humanity dug too deep and unleashed something ancient that couldn’t be controlled. Something that couldn’t be stopped, twisting everything it touched into more of itself. The Spread. Humanity was nearly destroyed before finding a way to slow the Spread to a crawl. Now, deep inside the quarantined zone, one man has found what might be the key to stopping it forever: a baby girl. And if he can save her, he might save the world.
“It’s Lone Wolf and Cub in a world where John Carpenter’s The Thing ate North America,” said Jordan. “Sean Shields, mostly called ‘No’ in the book—because he’s taciturn enough that it’s most of his dialogue—is one of the survivors. No is ‘Spread-immune,’ unable to be converted by the Spread biomass, and this means he can get closer to the Spread to scavenge useful bits of what used to be civilization—but not without danger. ”
The Spread itself is comprised of more than just its threat for virulence the creatures that lurk and thrive within it are equally nefarious. “I’ve designed piles of crazy organisms that form the Spread ecosystem. [Colorist] Felipe Sobreiro and I have crafted a look for these things that we’re very proud of,” said Strahm. “From tiny scavengers to massive predators, every creature has a spot on the food chain and looks pretty cool occupying that spot. The organisms least equipped to survive in the Spread are human beings. Gross things happen when they get too close.”
SPREAD #1 arrives in stores on 7/9 and is available for $3.50.
SPREAD can be pre-ordered using Diamond Code MAY140579.
Comics
[Review] Graphic Novel ‘Tender’ Is Brilliant Feminist Body Horror That Will Make You Squirm & Scream
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.
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