Review: Tales from The Darkside #3

The strife of Brian Newman and his supernatural evil twin Big Winner continue. While the doctors promised Brian salvation with the surgical chip implanted in his brain, the results brought a hell on earth.  Courtesy of the technology Brian brings his nightmare visions into reality, and he can travel into other people’s minds via technology.

Meanwhile, an ominous obsidian cube formed around Brian’s body in the lab.  Those who come in contact with the structure face a terrible fate.  And the doctors assisting Brian don’t fare any better, either.

The interesting elements of the plot arising in the issue are the technological means to transfer torment to those around Brian and the neurological symptoms that accompany Brian’s malady.  Unfortunately, those parts are subdued by the dream world or real world? scenarios where Brian’s mind creates horrible measures that cross into reality.  So much of the elements of this issue feel like recycled 80's horror elements.  Throw in a little Dreamscape and Nightmare on Elm Street, mix with Firestarter, and you have a concoction that fits this story well.

Like the issue before it, Tales From the Darkside reads like it can be something great but gets mired in a middle ground of interesting premises with minimal punch that result in not much horror at all.

I get the feeling I know why this was not picked up for television.

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Tales from The Darkside #3 Writer: Joe Hill Adaptation: Michael Benedetto Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

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Review: Tales from the Darkside #2

Writer Joe Hill (Horns, Heart Shaped Box, The Fireman) tried to revive the iconic monster show Tales from the Darkside, but the push for a television adaptation failed according to the insert.  With such success with Locke and Key, there is no question that a comic book version would allow the series to once again instill dread and terror. The source of the horror in this book is the lack of control over one’s own body.  Namely, the terror that arises from a condition producing seizures.  Brian Newman not only suffers from such a malady, but he also has a demonic twist.  The seizures have some ties to a spectral figure named “Big Winner” that causes reality to warp and bend around Newman.

In a trope familiar to horror, the main character suffers ostracism.  One day Newman is approached by Clive Finney, a man who offers a solution courtesy of surgery and technology.  Hoping to dispel Big Winner, Newman agrees to the surgery.

This leads to a decent but expected cliffhanger for the next chapter of Newman’s story.

In the novel medium, Hill gets time to develop his characters and build an empathetic connection.  Unfortunately, the comic book format does not grant that needed time.  As a result, Brian Newman feels like a downtrodden stranger instead of a compatriot.

While Gabriel Rodrigues does an outstanding job illustrating the issue, I did not find his depiction of Big Winner to be as menacing as it could have been.  More cartoonish than devilish, Big Winner’s color and form failed to come off as tormentor.

While I did like the multifaceted story (there’s a neat tie in to games of chance and puzzles that coincides with Newman’s condition), I never felt for Newman as much as I wanted to.  Therefore, the horror did not strike a cord with me.

Although I feel this book is a solid 3, I will look into the next issue to see how Hill will deliver.  While this book did not succeed, Hill does have a great reputation as a writer for completing an idea.

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Tales from the Darkside #2 Writer: Joe Hill Adaptation: Michael Benedetto Artist: Gabriel Rodriguez Publisher: IDW Publishing Price: $3.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital

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