The idea of video nasties have been around since, well for me, the 80’s. In the UK there was a huge swathe of “moral decency” that looked to ban certain videos. This piece of lived in history is at the forefront of this series from Vault comics.
Thumper is one of the “The Murder Club”, a group of friends who are into the cult horror classics that you have never heard of. Now, with the promise of film festival coming to town, ostensibly to be used to save their favourite video store (the place you used to get movies from before Netflix) from closure, their copy of a mysteriously unseen “horror classic” with a reputation for causing disaster destroyed, it’s time for “Thumper’s Creek” as he and his friends try to make their own film, with the help of an imaginary anti hero from a gore film of yesteryear!
Writer John Lees first caught my attention with Mountainhead from IDW. That book was a child / parent kind of horror. Here, Lees sets his sights on somewhere more local and in doing so brings a sense of realism into play. We all know where those “dodgy” shops are in town; hell, the uninitiated would probably class a comic book store as such. Lees fills the book with the sort of quirky characters that are instantly likeable, with nuances that are easy to spot as reader, whilst the characters live in a world of unknowing; who does Thumper not see that Meera likes him? Thrown into the mix is an imaginary friend in the shape of Red Ennis, a Bane like slashing killer from the sort of horror that fermented in a too young Thumper. The book is not all horror; in fact there is more humour than horror, though I am sure that may well change as the filming develops.
The art is provided by George Kambadais and Adam Cahoon. The pair do a great job of breathing life into the various characters and situations, with a Norm Breyfogle kind of facial and body styling. I much prefer Kambadais here than his recent The Flash work for DC which contrasts Roger Cruz ineffectively. Kambadias and Cahoon seem a much better choice of working partners; Thumpers dawning realisation, Meera’s enthusiasm and the desperation of Deb are all fully explored well, with body poses utilising quirky odd angles at times. The colors are a bit bolder than you may expect given the theme, though I feel that helps set up the impact of the inevitable horror that awaits The Murder Club. Letters are supplied by Jim Campbell who is somewhat under appreciated regardless of the easy going stye used here.
A book using elements of history that I lived through is always going to garner my attention. In the hands of John Lees, this slice of could-be-life reads well and is presented with a kind of nothing can go wrong believing characters, which makes the potential for their demise even more horrifying than Red Ennis himself!
Writing – 5 Stars
Art & Colors – 4 Stars
Overall – 4.5 Stars
Written by; John Lees
Art by; George Kambadais & Adam Cahoon
Letters by; Jim Campbell
Published by; Vault Comics
Nasty #2 is due to ship May 10th 2023
Diamond Code: FEB231807
Lunar Code: 0223VL329