“Colder: The Bad Seed” #1 is the second arc in the critically acclaimed “Colder” series written and drawn by the power team behind “Prometheus: Fire and Stone”: Paul Tobin and Juan Ferreyra. This series picks up some time after the events of “Colder” and follows Declan as he learns to use his abilities to heal the insane. His relationship with Reece has developed, and a new big bad is in town. Nothing at all has been lost from the first volume, this is still the book that will introduce you to the type of horrors you could never have imagined. If this is your first introduction to “Colder”, please don’t miss out.
WRITTEN BY: Paul Tobin
ART BY: Juan Ferreyra
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse
PRICE: $3.99
RELEASE: October 22, 2014
Review By Eric Switzer
In case you missed volume one: Declan was a patient in an insane asylum in the mid-twentieth century wherein horrible chemical experiments were done on the patients. This eventually led chaos and destruction and attracted the attention of a being called Nimble Jack who eats the souls of the crazy. Rather than consume Declan he curses him with certain abilities (including an ever falling body temperature) in anticipation of eating him in the future when he is tender.
To hide from Nimble Jack, Declan goes almost completely comatose and allows a caretaker named Reece from one of his subsequent mental hospitals to take him in. Eventually by happenstance Nimble Jack stumbles upon Declan and Declan decides to wake up and have the most ruckus mind fucking battle of all time with the creature.
“The Bad Seed” has a new bad guy, one that may even surpass Nimble Jack in being disturbing and awful. These are the kind of characters that make you worry about the mental stability of the creators. Swivel collects people’s fingers by slicing them right the fuck off, is made of fingers, and has a weird thing about milk. Its twisted, its hilarious, it makes it hard to sleep at night.
“Colder” always surprises, and each surprise is both horrible shocking and delightfully macabre. Declan has the ability to move in an out of “The Hungry World” a place where the insane live, and what he finds there is all manners of fucked up. Combined with a dose of humor and a healthy amount of romance, this book hits all the bases and establishes itself as a really unique horror entry on your self.
If you long for the style and flavor of “Locke and Key” you’ll want to check out “Colder”. Volume #1 should be around $14.99 at your LCS and in my opinion it is essential reading for volume #2. I promise you won’t be disappointed.
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Eric Switzer is an aspiring filmmaker and screenplay writer living in Los Angeles. His work tends to focus on the lighter side of entropy, dystopic futures, and man’s innate struggle with his own mortality. He can be found on twitter @epicswitzer or reached via email at ericswitzerfilm@gmail.com.