Cullen Bunn

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

Access a version of the below that discusses the series in full and includes illustrations on my blog.

I was really not looking forward to the last four issues. Whenever a series comes to an end and a new writer takes over for the last few issues, I think every comics fan knows that whatever you've been reading, it's about to get worse as a couple extra issues are cranked our regardless of quality in order to fill up a trade. In this particular case, I was dreading it even more because I knew show more writer Justin Jordan only from the execrable Team 7, and the book abandoned all attempt at artistic consistency, with four different artists on four issues.

But... to my surprise... with those last four issues, suddenly the series became really good! Instead of attempts at big Marvel-spanning epics, Jordan gives us four done-in-one tales, each teaming Kid Kaiju up with one of his monster team, allowing us to finally get to know them as characters—not to mention him. Suddenly the book is fun and funny, exactly the kind of thing I would have liked all along. But four issues of it were well worth it (though perhaps not worth reading the previous thirteen). We get colonies of giant bees and Cthuloid menaces worshipped by loser cultists and Transformers expys on the loose in New York City. (One issue is about the Inhumans, but I guess you can't win them all.) I was suddenly able to tell all the monsters apart from one another, and I didn't even mind that Elsa—ostensibly my whole reason for being here—was written out after issue #10. Good stuff, and I wish Justin Jordan had written the series from its beginning.

Elsa Bloodstone: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less

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

3.5/5 stars

Horror movie super-fan Allie is the black sheep of her evangelical, picture-perfect family - and that's before a chance encounter with Elder God Leviathan turns her into a super-powered monster. Unlike many of the other "touched," Allie decides her use her powers - chief among them, the ability to conjure any horror movie weapon from thin air - for good, transforming show more herself into the vigilante Jumpscare. (Another reviewer called Jumpscare "Harley Quinn meets Kick-Ass," which I'm going to borrow since it's basically perfect.)

When Allie's sister Rebecca is kidnapped, her parents break their years-long estrangement in order to reach out for help (by way of a kidnapping, natch). In a plot twist we all saw coming, Rebecca's captor is just using her as bait to get to Jumpscare. While the Elder Gods may be (mostly) gone, their descendants live on - and some, like the Dismal Concordat, harbor nefarious plans for resurrecting their overlords.

I really enjoyed JUMPSCARE ... though it's a little short on plot, the protagonist is great. I love an anti-hero who loves their work, and Jumpscare's powers are so much fun. The tension between Allie and her terrible family pops, especially given how timely it is. (I wouldn't be surprised if the 'rents turned out to be Project 2025 groupies.) The ending sets up Volume 2's story line nicely, although as short as this volume is, it feels rather incomplete, as if set up was its one job.

Bonus points for the adorable, will they/won't they eat a human's face? monster menagerie rescue at the end. show less

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

After being assaulted by a patient - a preternaturally strong patient, one who managed to tear through his restraints, despite the gruesome torture he'd endured - Dr. Nick Shaw impulsively joins a Doctors Without Borders mission to Honduras. His desire to outrun his past clearly rivals his urge to help those in need. But a serial killer is targeting the citizens of Disante - show more a butcher whose work is eerily familiar to Dr. Shaw. He'll soon find that the past is a skin that's not so easily shed (unlike *actual* human skin, lol), as the mystery and horror of "Unit 731" follows him: first from his grandfather's attic, to an OR in Atlanta, Georgia, and ultimately to the small town of Disante.

A LEGACY OF VIOLENCE is a creepy enough horror story, though not particularly memorable (a few especially macabre scenes excepted). It feels a little short, especially for the first volume in a series; I would have liked to have learned a little more about Unit 731 to keep me engaged and chomping for more. The artwork is serviceable, if not entirely my bag; occasionally I struggled to distinguish the white male characters apart. I'll pick up the next volume when it comes out, but won't lose sleep wondering over it in the meantime. show less