Connect with us

Comics

Review: ‘House Of Gold & Bones’ #4

Published

11 years ago

on

With all the answers revealed, “House Of Gold & Bones” #4 closes on its thrilling ultimate chapter. The narrative steers the central protagonist towards one last revelation. In his musical crossover to comics, Stone Sour’s Corey Taylor has taken readers to a mysterious and nightmarish hellhole.

WRITTEN BY: Corey Taylor
ART BY: Richard Clark
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: July 31, 2013

A young man, known only as “Zero,” found himself in Hell, being chased by Black John and his demonic gang of warriors. Never knowing his true identity, Zero was always on the verge of crossing the line between insanity and reason. Is he really a vicious killer like the others say he is? Or is Zero hiding a good soul behind layers of hate and anger? In a never-ending city, Zero has to make a leap of faith into the unknown and find out what’s actually going on. But, what happens if the truth is something he doesn’t wants to hear?

In this issue, Taylor finishes the character arc of Zero with a final battle of wits. Wearing a prisoner’s uniform, Zero is punishing himself for something he did in his previous life. After building himself an impenetrable wall, families and friends were cast out from his existence. Zero has to face memories that he buried in the back of his head for a long time. Taylor even provides an important clue why Black John looks the way he does.

As the story reaches its final pages, Taylor delivers a climatic confrontation between the id and ego. Hinting at a split-personality, Zero is fighting for control of his mind. But which part is destined to win, his good or bad half? A nice twisted is added in the opening pages as Zero heads towards his final destination. What if the other personalities don’t need Zero as his host anymore?

Artist Richard Clark captures a dark and brooding atmosphere in the first panel. Aided by Dan Jackson’s colors, Clark illustrates a cathedral with grand Gothic designs. With the walls of the cathedral painted blood red, there is a slightly scarlet glow in the air when lightning strikes. Inside the cathedral, the flames from the torches provide a creepy and ominous vibe. Zero’s melancholic mood is heightened as he crashes down on one of the pews. It almost looks like Zero is sitting inside his own coffin.

You can tell Clark put in a lot of thought and effort into the panel layouts. In four panels, Clark transitions the timeline from when Zero first starts out as an innocent child and ends with him as an angry adult. Clark is able to recreate the same poses and facial expressions as Zero jumps in time. When readers find out who Black John really is, Clark drops the hints in close-ups and closes with a wide shot.

With mystery finally solved, “House of Gold and Bones” #4 ends its terrifying journey into a nightmarish reality. If you have all the issues, now would be a great time to pick out all the clues and see how the mystery works as a whole piece.

4/5 Skulls

Reviewed by – Jorge Solis

Related Topics:
Advertisement
3 Comments

Comics

‘Witchblade’ is Getting Resurrected This Summer in New Comic Series from Top Cow and Image Comics

Published

16 hours ago

on

April 17, 2024

By

Witchblade cover

Witchblade, the popular comic series that initially ran from 1995 to 2015 and launched a TV series, is getting resurrected in a new comic series from Top Cow and Image Comics. It’s set to unleash heavy metal, black magic and blood this summer.

Look for the new Witchblade series to launch on July 17, 2024.

In Witchblade #1, “New York City Police Detective Sara Pezzini’s life was forever fractured by her father’s murder. Cold, cunning, and hellbent on revenge, Sara now stalks a vicious criminal cabal beneath the city, where an ancient power collides and transforms her into something wild, magnificent, and beyond her darkest imaginings. How will Sara use this ancient power, or will she be consumed by it?”

The series is penned by NYT Best-Selling writer Marguerite Bennett (Animosity, Batwoman, DC Bombshells) and visualized by artist Giuseppe Cafaro (Suicide Squad, Power Rangers, Red Sonja). The creative duo is working with original co-creator Marc Silvestri, who is the CEO of Top Cow Productions Inc. and one of the founders of Image Comics. They are set to reintroduce the series to Witchblade’s enduring fans with “a reimagined origin with contemporary takes on familiar characters and new story arcs that will hook new readers and rekindle the energy and excitement that fueled the 90’s Image Revolution that shaped generations of top creators.”

Bennett said in a statement, “The ability to tell a ferocious story full of monsters, sexuality, vision, and history was irresistible.” She adds, “Our saga is sleek, vicious, ferocious, and has a lot to say about power in the 21st century and will be the first time that we are stopping the roller coaster to let more people on. I’ve loved Witchblade since I was a child, and there is truly no other heroine like Sara with such an iconic legacy and such a rich, brutal relationship to her own body.”

“The Witchblade universe is being modernized to reflect how Marguerite beautifully explores the extreme sides of Sara through memories, her personal thoughts, like desire and hunger, in her solitude and when she is possessed by the Witchblade. So, I had to visually intersect a noir True Detective-like world with a supernatural, horror world that is a fantastic mix between Berserk and Zodiac,” Cafaro stated.

Marc Silvestri notes, “This is brand new mythology around Sara, and I can’t wait for you to fall in love with her and all the twists and turns. Discover Witchblade reimagined this summer, and join us as we bring all the fun of the 90s to the modern age and see how exciting comics can be. I can’t wait for you to read this new series.”

Witchblade#1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, July 17th, for $4.99 for 48 pages. And it’ll come with multiple cover variants.

  • Cover A: Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover B: Giuseppe Cafaro and Arif Prianto (Full Color)

  • Cover C: Blank Sketch Cover

  • Cover D (1/10): Dani and Brad Simpson (Full Color)

  • Cover E (1/25): Marc Silvestri and Arif Prianto, Virgin Cover (Full Color)

  • Cover F (1/50): J.Scott Campbell (Full Color)

  • Cover G (1/100): Bill Sienkiewicz. (Full Color)

  • Cover H (1/250): Line art by Marc. Virgin Cover, Inks (B/W)

Witchblade #1 will also be available across many digital platforms, including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, and Google Play.

Witchblade comic panel Witchblade #1 cover image

Continue Reading