"Heaven," is the latest comic by the extremely talented Katie Skelly. I've discussed in previous posts how much I enjoyed her horror story, "Maids," and the extremely raunchy adult comic collection, "The Agency." An interesting thing about, "Heaven," is that it is both quite sexy and has a lot of eerie elements as well. The setup of the story is that four high school seniors learn about a mysterious strip club on the edge of town called, "Heaven," that sometimes seems to exist and other times appears to have vanished without a trace. Dolores is the eldest at 18 and, due to a mix of disinterest in her Catholic school, a stressful home-life (she lives with her mother, who is going through a messy divorce), and general curiosity, gets a job at the club. Obviously, everything is not as it seems with Heaven.
Throughout the chapters/"Scenes," of the book, there is a palpable sense of dread. There is something eerie about Heaven, from its owner, "Lover," seeming a bit off to customers going missing, Dolores having nightmares every night after work, and so forth. Tensions increase with every turn of the page, and Skelly's superb art manages to both titillate and disturb. Brief moments of violence punctuate the slow unfurling of just how many secrets Heaven holds, and there are many! Skelly knows how to concoct a stellar tale, and "Heaven," is further proof of how she is a modern master of the comic art form. "Heaven," hits stores next week and is published by Fantagraphics, which was kind enough to supply me with an advance copy of the book upon my request for the purpose of review. If you enjoy stories that are as alluring as they are creepy, you definitely should seek a copy out for yourself!
5 out of 5 Stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment