More Scary Comics Worth Reading This Summer
Part two of our scary summer horror reading recommendations includes a large stack of comics that have been screaming at me to pick up and finish since April (April!). And now we're mostly through summer, unless you live somewhere like Texas where it blends into your Halloween. Maybe that's why I've been discovering so many excellent horror comics.
Whenever I do finish one I've been sleeping on, I get a surge of self-irritation after realizing how good it was. Like in part 1, those are what you'll find below...
Comics: Beast of Boriken, The Matron, Bloodland, Aztec Death Whistle, Sicko
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Sicko Brings Entertaining Vengeance to Medical Industrial Complex Horrors
One of the best first-page introductions I've read this year can be found in Ignition Press' Sicko #1, in which we're presented with some cynical captions about the nature of human fragility.
The series follows chronically sick Valentine, whose immune system is attacking her body to the puzzlement of doctors. If you know someone with a similar condition, then you know how much it can sap their quality of life. It's not just the sickness, but also the doctor appointments, the rolling symptoms and side effects that get traded off based on drug cocktail treatments, and of course medical bills. It's a horror all on its own, and needs no supernatural funny business to be frightening. But this is a comic, and one from the potent talents of author Tini Howard, artist Amilcar Pinna (of Galactic, which everyone should pick up), and colorist Amanda Grazini. Thus, emotionally raw scenes highlighting the cruel realities of going from star med student to penniless patient give way to Val's immune system inexplicably fighting back, literally. Beautiful, terrifying, and intriguing.
Sicko is on comic shelves now (or digitally if you're in the Sweet Shop beta).
Beast of Boriken, A Chupacabra Horror With Whovian Vibes
My favorite flavor of Doctor Who episodes are the ones that feel like light horror flicks with tons of historical context baked into the story. It's nice to learn something new without a tradeoff of entertainment value. Dark Horse/Tiny Onion's Beast of Boriken scratches all of those itches and more...
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