There's Some Crazy Stuff Going On Here.
The pieces continue to fall in place as a group of survivors band together to take on the Cenobites.
The Good
What's one of the problems with horror movies is you have a good idea how they're going to end. Everyone does with the occasional survivor left to tell the story. In the Hellraiser movies, Kirsty Cotton was the only survivor after the Cenobites claimed their victims. If you've read the first issue, you know she's in this series.
Adding to the Kirsty's story, we see there are other survivors and they've banded together. They are on a mission that may end with a face off against the Cenobites or other demons but it's a mission they have to go through. Also in the first issue we know that something is up with Pinhead.
Clive Barker and Christopher Monfette are taking us where none of the movies have taken us. It's a great continuation of the story that is a reminder why the first movie showed such promise.
The Bad
I'm curious what people that haven't seen the movies would think of this comic. Even reading the first issue, we're suddenly seeing Kirsty has gather her group. There's not a clear explanation of when they were formed and what their full story is. We see them already gathered and have to pick out what their goals and motivation are as the story unfolds. It's a fine storytelling method but there are bits of confusion and I can only imagine what readers not completely familiar with the franchise are going through.
I really dug Leonardo Manco's art in issue #1 but here it almost looks muddier. Part of what I enjoyed was the way it set the tone of the story. In scenes where we see a bunch of people talking, it felt like the art starting getting away a little. The scenes toward the end to make up for parts of the first half.
The Verdict
There's no question that this is what fans of Hellraiser want to see. With Clive Barker taking part in this series, we are getting a continuation of the movie events. Too often horror movies simply end with very few survivors and you don't really see what happens afterwards. This series is showing us that the story is not over. Readers newer to the franchise may have some difficulty keeping up. Even after reading the first issue, it almost feels like something happened in between that issue and this but you can see that we will be getting answers. The art doesn't feel quite as consistent as in the first issue but the action packed scene towards the end delivers and has some really nice details.
