Author: Peter Straub (yes, that Peter Straub) & Michael Easton
Publisher: DC Comics
Rating: WORTHY!
Gorgeously illustrated by John Bolton - I recommend a visit to his website.
This is a story about a Vietnam vet (veteran, not veterinarian) who was so warped by his experiences that he became a serial killer. So, yeah, trite. He believes a voice talks to him from under the table in the bar he frequents. Or is it the carved ship's figurehead of a semi-naked woman who does the talking? Whatever it is, he gets his orders and he takes down his young, nubile victims - and others. This guy is definitely sick.
The improbable thing for me was that the killer looks just like the new Doctor Who, Peter Capaldi! I know the new doctor is older and darker, but really! I have to say I had an issue with this character having a Vietnam history. The Vietnam war was over by 1975, so even if he'd been in on only the tail end of that and was, say, twenty in 1975, that means he's well into his fifties by the time the novel was published.
Let's not be age-ist here; there's nothing about that age per se which would prevent someone from being a serial killer, but the older they get, the more likely they are to have gone completely over the edge, or to have been caught. As they age, they become less capable of overpowering people - and most importantly, of even being able to pick-up young girls, unless they take on an assistant, so that was a stretch for me. Besides, America needs to get over Vietnam and realize that we have bigger fish to fry these days.
There's a young cop who is chasing this killer, and his investigations lead to a neat little dig at the Catholic church on page 43. This cop is seems like he has some violent tendencies himself. He's also haunted by the victims in this case. On a fishing trip, he keeps seeing dead girls in place of the fish he catches and hangs out to dry.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel, mostly for the art work since the story was pretty average. The illustrations, however, are amazingly well done. They're really quite stunning and make it worthwhile taking a look at this just for that alone. I recommend this one.
