Comics
Review: Clive Barker’s ‘Next Testament’ #3
In its third installment, “Next Testament” #3 delivers the roller-coaster ride that horror fans have been waiting for. Each page has been glued in with such sheer intensity and a crazy amount of eye-popping gore. Readers should be prepared to have their mind blown away by the “Next Testament” series.
WRITTEN BY: Clive Barker and Mark Miller
ART BY: Haemi Jang
PUBLISHER: Boom! Studios
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: July 31, 2013
After being locked away for thousands of years, a powerful god was unearthed from the desert wasteland by billionaire Julian Demond. To bring him up to speed about present-day technology and modern civilization, Julian presented Wick to his wealthy socialites and Hollywood producers. Tired of listening, Wick actually did what any god would do when they’re angry. With the snap of his fingers, Wick exploded the head of an elderly woman. Trapped in the room with Wick, no one at the dinner party has a chance to escape. Julian must decide if he should save his son, Tristan, or let him perish at the hands of Wick.
Clive Barker and co-writer, Mark Miller, let loose on all the bloody action and kill scenes. This is the issue where Wick becomes Jason Voorhees and wipes out the dinner guests one by one. Readers get a chance to see how deadly and unmerciful Wick truly is as an antagonist. Yes, he is the judge, jury, and executioner, much like Pinhead, but I think what makes Wick stand out is that he’s actually enjoying it. Wick is having fun watching the party-goers run and scream for their lives.
We also get a chance to see the protagonists, Tristan and Elspeth, in action. As death looms close, the couple is quick on their feet as they desperately try to find an escape from Wick’s slaughter. What’s great about Elspeth’s characterization is that she is not the damsel-in-distress. Elspeth reacts to the bloodshed like any normal person would, while keeping up with Tristan’s frantic pace. As Wick is on the hunt, the couple is only thinking about how they can save each other from him.
Artist Haemi Jang hits the shock value with a bang in her jaw-dropping illustrations. First, Wick waves his hand, forcing a skull to pop out of a dinner guest’s body. When another dinner guest attempts to fight back and argues with Julian, Wick shoves his fist right through the guy’s mouth. I loved the glowing rack-focus effect Jang uses in an over-the-shoulder shot. You just see the bright colors of the sirens, not the vehicles themselves, as the police cars steer towards the mansion.
My favorite of Jang’s bloody imagery is the two-pager, which is beyond impressive. As the dinner guests are trying to escape, they start throwing chairs at a large-sized stained glass window. Wick just flashes a smile as the entire window explodes into a million pieces. In the two-pager, you see all the shards of glass stabbing each of the dinner guests.
“Next Testament” #3 ends on a nail-biting cliffhanger that will leave readers wanting more. Readers will end up hooked with the “Next Testament” series by the time they reach the last page.
4.5/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
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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