The Chill

Vertigo was already the mature imprint of DC Comics when they started Vertigo Crime back in 2009. The whole line used a smaller format than the usual comics and GNs published by DC, they were all in black and white and published as hardcovers. Most of the writers for the new line were not ones you would usually associate with comics - which made most of the stories stronger and different.

"The Chill" starts in Ireland where an old curse is awaken when a young woman has sex for the first time. A few decades later, people start dying in New York - and it looks ritualistic and weird. If one pays attention, they will realize that either the illustrator has messed up much earlier in New York or something else is indeed weird (nope, it is not show more the illustrator). The old curse had crossed the ocean and the woman and her father are now killing in the big city. And the only man who knows what is going on is the one who survived back in Ireland - and who seems to have enough problems to become a suspect when he finally shows up.

The whole novel is steeped into Irish/Celtic legends, pulling pieces of them and rewriting them to fit the story and the narrative. Magic and immortality clash together into a time when noone believes in either; there is even an Irish priest who everyone respects (and who turns out to be anything but respectable). And somewhere under the gore and death, there is a love story. Because while the curse and the story demand sacrifices, love seems to be the only thing that can beat it all. Or at least to change it enough so the victims of it can live with it.

The twist at the end completes a circle - even if it seems like a tale of redemption for most of the novel for some of the characters, it is anything but. And the reversal of roles adds to that.

The novel is explicit - both in language and in its images and sex and gore are shown as matter of fact. Which is why Vertigo needed the new imprint after all. And the art by Bertilorenzi fits the story perfectly, almost too perfectly in places - as with all good GNs, the art carries the stories even further.

If you are looking for a deep tale about Celtic cults and what's not, look elsewhere - this is not it. The sex and the curse it unleashes (or the special power if you wish) are the point of the novel. And it executes them very well.

"The Chill" ended up winning Starr a second Anthony awards - after he won one in 2005 for Best paperback original, this one gave him the one for Best GN - in the first and only year in which the Anthony awards acknowledged the existence of the medium and used one of its wildcard spots to give it an award. show less

Beautifully drawn, but not terribly smart. The twist at the end is just not believable, and really took me out of the story. A hack effort.

eh, it was okay. very graphic tho!!