Comics
Review: ‘Hellraiser: The Road Below’ #1
Hellraiser: The Road Below #1 is highly recommended to readers, especially to fans of Clive Barker’s famous creation. With the spotlight on Kirsty Cotton as the new Pinhead, the series takes on an entirely new and different approach. Full of creative ideas, Brandon Seifert and Haemi Jang show readers that there is still life within the “Hellraiser” franchise without Elliot Spencer in the title role. Readers should expect plenty of scares and clever plot twists with this issue.
WRITTEN BY: Brandon Seifert
ART BY: Haemi Jang
PUBLISHER: Boom! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: November 7th, 2012
Seeking revenge after his last defeat, Pinhead manipulated Kirsty Cotton into taking his place at Hell’s throne. In order to escape from Hell, Pinhead needed a replacement to serve in his place. Hoping to save her friends and family, Kirsty sacrificed herself and took over the role inhabited by Captain Elliot Spencer. With Spencer gone and free, Kirsty now reigns in Hell as the Cenobites’ new Priestess. Outside the realm of Hell, a young mother discovers a killer is on the hunt for her daughter. Whose side will Kirsty choose, the helpless mother or the vicious killer?
With the focus on Kirsty, Seifert takes the “Hellraiser” mythology to a whole new level. In Clive Barker’s “Hellraiser ” issue #13, Kirsty has already served her role for some time, but readers never found out what actually happened in-between. Seifert develops a new tale that examines that missing gap of Kirsty’s life as the new Pinhead. Just like Spencer, Kirsty bases her decisions from her lost humanity. There is an awkwardness and confusion about what she is supposed to do in Hell, which is an interesting metaphor for “your first day on the new job.”
The injection of black humor is quite surprising and stands out if you have seen the previous “Hellraiser” sequels. This isn’t laugh-out loud humor, nor is it slapstick horror comedy. Seifert’s dry humor comes from the characters, as seen in the confrontation between Rhea and Kirsty. Evenly matched, Rhea and Kirsty share feisty attitudes as they won’t back down from a fight. Because she doesn’t have the cold and world-weariness demeanor of Spencer, Kirsty isn’t going to say and do things like her predecessor. Kirsty is till this pure and good soul, who just happens to be trapped in Hell.
Jang centers his illustrations on the mother/daughter relationship between Rhea and Cordele. There is so much detail to their facial features and hairstyles. Readers can tell Rhea and Cordele look like they’re actually related. In the opening pages, Jang reveals how Kirsty is uncomfortable in her new body, as she touches the pins around her face. Jang foreshadows to readers the consequences of Kirsty’s good-hearted intentions and what Hell is going to become.
Jang ‘s illustrations contain some nasty moments. In the climax, Rhea cuts off the arm of a monstrous killer with a sharp knife. The chopped arm drops to the ground while a new one is regenerating. Jang puts in immense detail to distinguish the old and new arm.
A perfect jumping-point for new readers, “Hellraiser: The Road Below #1” puts tremendous effort into setting up the characters and their motivations. Seifert and Jang pull off what the substandard sequels failed to do. They have successfully put in fresh and new ideas into the already established “Hellraiser” franchise.
Rating: 4/5 skulls
Reviewed by Jorge Solis
Comics
‘Curse of the Where Wolf’ Bites Into August Release With Trio of Werewolf Theatrical Screenings [Exclusive Preview]
Larry Chaney‘s hairy misadventures are continuing in the sequel graphic novel Curse of the Where Wolf from creative team Rob Saucedo, Debora Lancianese, and Jack Morelli, and its author is celebrating with a trio of horror’s greatest werewolf films.
The Curse of the Where Wolf hits shelves on August 7 from Encyclopocalypse Publications.
That coincides with the launch of a theatrical screening event in Houston, Texas, featuring a trio of seminal werewolf flicks turning 45 this year: The Howling on August 7, Wolfen on August 14, and An American Werewolf in London on August 21.
Each screening features a “werewolf in film” presentation as well as a book signing from Where Wolf author and River Oaks Theatre artistic director Rob Saucedo.
In the new graphic novel, “Being a werewolf sucks. Reporter Larry Chaney wanted to be a hero. Instead, he became a werewolf. Now, caught between incredible new powers and a desire to eat everything (and everyone) in sight, Larry must find a cure for his curse. Or die trying.”
“With Where Wolf, I wanted to tell a whodunit set in a furry convention, so the story was pretty contained within a very specific setting and genre. With Curse of the Where Wolf, I wanted to celebrate everything I love about the possibility of comic books. Curse of the Where Wolf is a funny book, in every sense of the phrase, but it’s also an earnest look at a person’s struggle to become a better version of themselves, especially when the alternative is to become a literal monster,” Saucedo says of Curse.
The original graphic novel was previously serialized as the first webcomic hosted on Fangoria before being collected by Encyclopocalypse Publications in 2023 and has already been optioned for film, podcast, and television development ahead of launch by producers James Fino (“The Freak Brothers” for Tubi, “Rick and Morty” for Adult Swim) and Charles Horak (First Date for Magnolia Pictures).
Expect Larry to find himself in even weirder situations in the 362-page full color sequel; Saucedo has provided Bloody Disgusting with exclusive art pages from the upcoming graphic novel that showcase lupine humor.
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