Cullen Bunn

I loved this, a horror story about a young woman who's the reincarnation of a witch previously executed by her hometown, how she discovers her powers, and what she decides to do about it. It's got the fate-versus-free-will thing that I love so much, plus some seriously creepy ghosts and spirits. And the art is stunning, colored in watercolor and thoroughly engrossing.

(Full disclosure: I received a free e-ARC for review through Edelweiss. Content warning for general violence and gore.)

Three years ago a group of "mad one percenters" - led by Mama Torment, chief priestess of the Howling Gargoyles - called down acid rain "from the forbidden places between stars," turning the eastern seaboard into hell on earth, populated by mutant monstrosities and a small group of especially stubborn human survivors. Chief among them: Griz, a hulking mercenary who does odd show more jobs in exchange for soup and chili - and, occasionally, sweet government cash. Along with necromancer Hillary and Buttercup, a koala who's every bit as murdery as he is cute, Griz and his team try to help the residents of the bogland when and how they can.

When a government agent named Jenkins offers Griz a job tracking down his team, the money's too good to pass up. But Griz soon discovers what the Men in Black are really after: a servitor entity. Conjured from the flesh of an old god called Azare-Ra-Toth, the creature was meant to serve its parent blindly. Unlike the rest of its siblings - the great herd - this "sentient big toe" inexplicably developed free thought, transforming it into a sort of conduit to its creator. Now everyone from the Pentagon to a biker gang wants to use it to channel dark forces. Can Griz and the team keep Bruce (his eventual chosen name) safe from those who seek to exploit him?

The artwork is the real star in MONSTERS ARE MY BUSINESS. If you love freakish monsters, this comic has got 'em in spades. Bruce is awesome and Piazzalunga imbues him with the right balance of angst, vulnerability, and stabby-ness. Cuddles is freaking adorable; even more so when sporting a flamethrower (he needs to be available as a stuffed animal asap). My only complaint is Mama Torment's monstrous form. A sort of aracne - a spider with a human torso - Mama's breasts are ... two gaping, fanged mouths? Like a vagina dentata, but with boobs. Idk, it just felt a little juvenile and over the top.

The writing is ... okay. The story is engaging enough, if not always memorable. Some of the mythology felt intentionally vague or slippery, so to speak. (I had to fact check a few times while writing this review, because some of the details just didn't make that big of an impression on me.) There are a few interesting threads that need to be followed up on - such as Hill promising Griz's soul to her own gods - and thus hint at a sequel. I'd read it, if only for Bruce and Buttercup. show less

Birdie, her little sister, their pregnant mother and their father live on a struggling farm. And, when a farmhand named Cole comes walking up their road should the children be thankful for some extra help on the farm. But, Birdie feels that the man is evil, there is something wrong with him and when the dead rats start to dance, then she knows for sure that Cole is making the dead restless...

Cullen Bunn has become a name that I recognize after reading The Sixth Gun and Harrow County. So, of show more course, I had to read Death Follows when I saw this graphic novel on Edelweiss.

And, it's a horrifying and chilling tale and I could hardly stop reading it. You know when you read something, and you want to read, but at the same time, you feel dread about turning the page? Reading Death Follows is just like that. Have you read Pet Sematary by Stephen King? If you have, then you probably know what I mean, it's a great book, but still I'm not sure I want to read it again since it's such a dreadful story. And, Death Follows is also dreadful to read. So, Cullen Bunn has really succeeded with writing a page-turning story with a heartbreaking good story. Birdie us such a great characters, and I really felt for her throughout the book, worrying about Cole, seeing things in the dark. And, the last thrilling issue in this volume just broke my heart. And, that ending...well let's say that it's a bit...creepy...

I also really like the art, the colors, the way the characters are drawn, the whole thing. It suits the story so well.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through Edelweiss for an honest review.

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Honestly, a complete failure to evoke the /feeling/ of Bloodborne. The titular Lady of the Lanterns—or the Winter Lantern enemy in-game—especially represents a unique psychological horror; the fact that once you know too much about the true nature of this unending nocturnal hunt, she will appear familiar. The Winter Lantern enemy is deliberately designed to look like and resemble a friendly NPC, later a boss of whom that NPC is a copy, in order to prey on how deeply into the torment show more nexus you've gone.

This artstyle, while evocative and certainly fine to look at, does not capture the abject sliminess of Bloodborne. The world of Yharnam [and beyond] is wet with rot, with corruption, with spit and entrails. It is a dire circumstance, full of people turning on their loved ones, of dangerous mental infections that erode your common sense, of cool ass weapons. Given that most of Bloodborne's fanbase is really into weaponry / outfit mix-matching, I think it was a real shame that weapons were basically an afterthought in this comic.

That's not even getting into the fundamental misunderstanding of Bloodborne mechanics. The nature of the beast blood corruption is not explored, especially not in the little girl who becomes "one of them" and summarily must be put down. Furthermore, the Lady of the Lanterns does not change her appearance from victim to victim. She's always just some random spectral gal. It's distracting, and shallow. There's no cosmic horror, despite that ostensibly being the entire point of Bloodborne.

Oh, and not a single character in this is likeable beyond two of the male hunters. Both of whom die, and one is off-screen. They were the only two characters who felt like actual Bloodborne NPCs you could meet and see die horribly. Such a shame! Furthermore: the pacing just feels like a slog. Too much yammering, not enough atmosphere. Monsters were not monstering. show less