Comics
Review: ‘Crawling Sky’ #1
Adapted from his imaginative and thrilling novella anthologized in “Son of Retro Pulp Tales,” Joe R. Lansdale, his son Keith, and artist Brian Denham (“The X-Files”) deliver the Weird West goods with Crawling Sky #1. Reverend Mercer features, once again, in this irresistible tale of terror, only instead of confronting zombies, ghouls, and werewolves, this five-issue miniseries sees him dedicated to solving the mystery surrounding an isolated cabin where a savage creature lurks in the shadows.
WRITTEN BY: Joe R. Lansdale, Keith Lansdale
ART BY: Brian Denham
PUBLISHER: Antarctic Press
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: January 16th, 2013
As far as supernatural, Wild West horror tales go, both Lansdale’s seem unhindered in the process of writing cross-genre fiction. “Crawling Sky” is the wildest of Wests and the epitome of the monster–horror sub-genre; but with elements of entertaining adventure, terror, and humorous asides, it’s hard to categorize this series as anything but “Lansdalean.”
The first issue of the series begins with Reverend Mercer’s ominous introduction, “Nothing good ever took place under a crawling sky.” The words scribed onto the first page of the book are as daunting as Brian Denham’s black and white illustrations accompanying them. Opening with our first look at the aforementioned abandoned cabin, Denham cloaks the setting of “Crawling Sky” #1 in darkness, and emphasizes the forthcoming significance of a rundown well nearby. He does so, effectively, by utilizing perspective drawing techniques to depict the night sky being viewed from the bottom of the well. Whether the artistic intention is to showcase the sky through the eyes of the reader, or a cryptically symbolic character, I’ll leave that up to your interpretation. In either case, it’s remarkably clever, and writing about it makes me giddy.
We are introduced to a young man named Norville, a key player in the series, as he and his wife Sissy happen to be squatting in the isolated cabin near the abhorrent Texan town of Wood Tick. A town so vile, yet charming, that you’re left to commend the Lansdale’s and Denham on their envisioning of the characters. Unbeknownst to Norville, he accidentally sets free something ancient, dark, and evil from the well; but when tragedy strikes and the villagers of Wood Tick cast him aside as a loonatic, his only hope is Reverend Mercer who happens to be passing through. Turns out, Mercer has some business to attend to at the cabin himself; business that will be revealed in Part Two.
“Crawling Sky” raises my interest for horror-western fiction in a strangely surprising way. Coming into the series with no expectations, I’m left craving the next installment. Though, I’ll admit that it’s probably hit or miss for consumers, both Lansdale’s and Denham’s ability to simultaneously shock and charm readers with their writing and art, is a good enough reason to check this book out.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – ShadowJayd
IDW Dark and Paramount recently joined forces to launch limited comic book tales set in the worlds of Smile and A Quiet Place, and we’ve learned today that they’ll continue hanging around in those franchise universes with two brand new limited series tales.
Entertainment Weekly has exclusively revealed this afternoon that IDW Dark’s Any Given Smile debuts in September, while A Quiet Place: Rising Tides arrives in November.
First up, from writer Stephanie Williams and artist Pablo Collar, Any Given Smile puts a football-themed twist on Parker Finn’s successful Smile movie franchise.
The five-part limited series is “set in January 1995, during the American Arena League football championship game in St. Augustine, Florida. The rising superstar of the Sharks, backup quarterback Dupree, is feeling the pressure from his teammates, the fans, and also the city’s gambling underworld, to whom he owes a considerable debt. Meanwhile, a sports journalist investigates a string of suicides that may be connected to the big game. At the very least, they are connected to a sinister entity that preys on the minds of its victims.”
From writer Declan Shalvey and artist Luke Sparrow, A Quiet Place: Rising Tides will also be a five-issue limited story. The comic book tale “brings the creatures to the Florida Keys, where a father-daughter duo attempt to survive on water in a houseboat.”
EW further details, “This tense family reunion coincides with the arrival of the vicious creatures that hunt through sound. Grace and her dad find safety on the open ocean, but she’ll have to make landfall sooner or later; the father’s oxygen tank and their supplies are running low, while a hurricane swiftly approaches.”
Learn more about both comic books over on Entertainment Weekly.
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