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Graphic Novel Review: Victor Lavalle’s Destroyer by Victor Lavalle, illustrated by Dietrich Smith

Victor Lavalle’s Destroyer by Victor LaValle, illustrated by Dietrich Smith

BOOM! Studios, 2018

ISBN-13: 9781684150557

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, comiXology

Victor LaValle’s Destroyer is set in a world where Victor Frankenstein is real, and so is his Creature. Having survived by living under the frigid environment of Antarctica, he becomes angered when a whaling vessel invades the waters and sheds blood of the ocean creatures he is seen swimming with in the first pages. Here begins the journey of the Destroyer, his only goal to eliminate humanity from the planet.

But Destroyer isn’t simply the story of Frankenstein’s Creature and his revenge. At the center is Dr. Josephine Baker, who herself is a descendant of the Frankenstein family, and her resurrected son, Akai. He had been gunned down by the Chicago police after a paranoid woman called them insisting a Black man was brandishing a firearm in her neighborhood. Dr. Baker brought him back using nanotechnology, plus a little of her ancestor’s methods. Two scientists, Percy and Byron, believe they’re searching for Dr. Baker to protect her from the Destroyer, but they discover their mission may be greater than they thought. Add to the mix Akai’s estranged father, the Bride, and a ruthless agent who will stop at nothing to get her hands on Dr. Baker’s creation, and you have yourself one amazing story.

LaValle does not shy away from sociopolitical commentary in Destroyer. Strong themes in this graphic novel include misogyny, racism, and police brutality, all of which are timely and necessary topics. LaValle expertly weaves a tale of modern-day United States fear and hatred with the original Frankenstein story using elements and names familiar to readers of Shelley’s original work. The artwork supplied by Smith creates the perfect accompaniment to a gripping story.

I watched a keynote given by LaValle during the Library Journal Library Con Live! 2018 where he discussed the graphic novel. I highly recommend seeing him speak if you have the chance.

Contains: blood, gore, misogyny, police brutality, racism, violence

Highly recommended

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

Editor’s note: Victor Lavalle’s Destroyer is on the final ballot for the 2018 Bram Stoker Award in the Graphic Novel category. 

Posted on February 25, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: Brainchew by Wol-vriey

Brainchew by Wol-vriey

Burning Bulb Publishing, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-9977-7304-0

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

With Brainchew, Nigerian horror author Wol-vriey has really hit his stride.  He’s toned down the sometimes excessive levels of blood and pain that could be found in his other horror fiction, created a new monster that fans will enjoy, and kept his dark sense of humor intact.  With Brainchew, he’s created his most memorable creature to date : this is an excellent read, and one that should be on the shelves of any horror fan who delights in campiness and carnage.

The plot: four small-time crooks who specialize in safecracking descend upon eastern Massachusetts with a deal for the “big score.” Their assignment: break into a mansion, crack the safe, steal two specific diamonds, then meet their employer at the Sunflower Motel in Raynham, Massachusetts, for the drop. One of the robbers gets killed during the heist, so his partners dump the body in a Raynham cemetery and then go to the hotel to wait to for the drop.  Unfortunately for them, the hotel owners are sleazebags who have figured out what is going on, and have their own designs on the loot.

Up to that point, the story is pretty standard.  But then it takes a very different turn, and the fun really begins.  Brainchew is a monster that somewhat resembles the creatures from the Alien series, minus the stinging tail.   Awakened from slumber in the cemetery by blood leaking into the ground from the dumped body, Brainchew is hungry for…brains, of course!  Naturally, Brainchew proceeds to the Sunflower Motel to wreak havoc in the goriest method possible, throwing the plans of both the motel owners and the robbers into disarray.

The story moves quickly, without wasting time on lengthy expositions or deep conversations.  There is just enough backstory given on the protagonists to make them seem like more than cardboard cutouts. You might find yourself disliking many of them, as they have few redeeming qualities.  That’s what makes this such fun: you might find yourself rooting for Brainchew as he chews human genital regions, gulps urine, crushes skulls, and flings cranial carnage everywhere.   All of this is done with Wol-vriey’s usual messy intensity, although it is toned down a bit from his previous books.  There’s enough bloodshed to keep gorehound readers happy, but not enough to enter the realm of excess that so many hardcore horror authors today seem to delight in.  The real delight in the book is when Raynham’s residents see Brainchew.  They know who he is already: he is a secret that the town tried to bury years ago.  Their reactions are priceless: it’s not “oh my god, what is THAT?”  but “oh no, that damn thing is awake and at it again!”  It’s nice to have a book where the characters don’t react in the same fashion as usual when a monster is encountered.

Brainchew is a fast, messy, wild ride, with an entertaining and original monster.  The only thing that may put some readers off is the graphic sex does seem excessive at times, and pulls away from the overall story thread.  If you can overlook that, this is a story that most gorehound horror fans will enjoy.  Recommended.

Contains: graphic violence, graphic sex

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on February 25, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste

The Rust Maidens by Gwendolyn Kiste

Journalstone. 2018

ISBN-13: 978-1947654440

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

If there’s someone out there who is unfamiliar with Gwendolyn Kiste’s gorgeous prose of the macabre, The Rust Maidens would be a great place to start. After last year’s stellar collection, And Her Smile Will Untether The Universe, Kiste steps out with her debut novel, which rattles the soul in a disturbing, yet beautiful read.

Set in Cleveland in 1980,  this tale unwinds in a muted, depressive state that feels utterly claustrophobic, brought to life by Kiste’s exquisite, yet unobtrusive, prose. A group of girls in the neighborhood has contracted an illness that defies logic and science. What begins as something relatively innocuous, dripping water from their bodies, becomes much more dangerous and frightening: skin breaking open, revealing glass-like shards and rusted metal where bones should be. The horror is quiet here, like the best of Shirley Jackson and Charles Grant, as Kiste dissects the rotting body of the area which mirrors the internal strife of the people who live within the crumbling town.

The dual narrative of our protagonist, Phoebe, past and present, is a haunting one, as she returns home to revisit the bones of what she escaped long ago. The mystery of what happened to her best friend and cousin Jacqueline looms large over both timelines. The true antagonists of this novel are vague, and should be: the women who strive to hold power of the lives on Denton Street, the government agents who appear to investigate, the Rust Maidens themselves, the self-destruction of the town.

To give away more would strip away the power of this beautifully written novel by one of the best new writers out there today, a tale both unsettling and gut-wrenching. Kiste wraps her story in a veneer that feels like a mix of rust with the dust that has settled over the dying town, and the emotional heft between the covers weighs down on the reader like the crush of a rust-riddled steel beam, suffocating in mood but resulting in a story that begs to be read and savored. Kiste is a star, and The Rust Maidens is a slam dunk as a finalist for this year’s Stoker Award.

Highly recommended for lovers of any any genre.

 

Reviewed by David Simms

 

Posted on February 17, 2019 by , Reply
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