Thanks to Storm King Comics For The ARC, and the opportunity to read it.
One of the toughest jobs on the market has to be a truck driver. The physical aspects of the job can be hard, the responsibility of having to drive a truck full of expensive cargo, dealing with loneliness, etc. But it is also a job that has been common in human trafficking activities. Today’s story takes us in a horror/suspenseful approach on a hot button topic that includes human traffiicking and kidnapping.
Storm King Comics Dark & Twisted: Long Haul features a powerhouse creative team consisting of writers Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun, Harrow County, Deadpool Kills The Marvel Universe), Heath Amodio (The Keeper, The Heathens, Swords in The Shadows) and artists Andrea Mutti (Haunt You To The End, Bunny Mask Hollow Inside, Dark Interlude), and Gigi Baldassini (DCeased: Dead Planet, Over My Dead Body, Adventures of Zannablu).
Over 700 people have gone missing along America’s Interstate Highways. Either hunted, taken, and killed by more than 300 serial killers, this tale focuses on Sarah Blake, who vanished without a trace on her way to work. Her disappearance was too much to handle for her sickly father. Between their father’s passing and their sister’s disappearance, the Blake Brothers were left with rage and loss. With nothing left to lose, the brothers decided to spin whatever time they had left looking for their missing sister, and to hunt down the long haul serial killers, to not only uncover the truth about Sarah’s disappearane, but to take out the murderers in a brutal fashion.
If you’re looking for something action-packed and extremely gory, then I have something for you! Storm King Comics Dread & Twisted: Long Haul was certainly a book that grabs piques your interest quickly, Bunn and Amodio’s approach to horror is fascinating (speaking as a first time reader of both writers), giving us a glimpse into the mind of a serial killer and its cult. The Nine are a sick, psychopathic bunch of serial killers that pose as truck drivers. Both writers offer the perfect disguise for the Nine to use in order to carry out their task. But you can’t give all the credit to the antagonists, I have to give praise to the Blake Brothers, who channeled their loss and anger into taking down their new enemies. The only downside to this was that the story felt rushed, it may be a graphic novel, but 120 pages doesn’t feel long enough to cover the story, explain The Nine or offer any type of lore to build on for this story’s timeline which makes it confusing at times. But it is still great story that is well-written.
As for the artwork in this story, Andrea Mutti and Gigi Baldassini do a fantastic job of portraying how sadistic and twisted both The Blake Brothers and the serial killers can be. It was clever to include several elements of John Carpenter and Sandy King Carpenter’s work into well-placed easter eggs, giving the graphic novel a horror film vibe to it. The color tone for the book was handled well thanks to Valerio Alloro (John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction: Civilians, Star Wars: Hyperspace Stories, Darek) who helped capture the horror aspect of the story with Mutti and Baldassini’s linework.
Storm King Comics Dark & Twisted: Long Haul Is Available Now where books are sold, including at Storm King Comics Official Website, where you can pick up a signed copy of the book for $42. Thanks, once again to Storm King Comics for reaching out and the opportunity.
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Final Grade:
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