horror graphic novel

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Lenni Reviews: “The Promised Neverland” Vol. 3, by Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu

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While Emma and her friends do their best to act like normal while they plan an escape, Don and Gilda do some investigating of their own into Mom’s secrets.

While our main three are great, adding Don and Gilda really rounds out the cast. I was internally screaming that they were rummaging around in ways that could (and probably should) have gotten them caught and ruined everything but holy shit, the tension in this volume. This series is amazing and really sucks you in so you are flying through the pages to see what happens. 4 out of 5

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Lenni Reviews: “The Promised Neverland” Vol. 2, by Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu

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As Emma, Norman, and Rey make plans to escape, Mama brings in Sister Krone as an extra pair of eyes to endure their plans fail.

Yikes, Mama is just as creepy and diabolical in the manga as she was in the show with the way she’s drawn in those extreme expressions. The kids are great characters and watching them try to work out a plan is genuinely thrilling. They’re inspiring and smart, so they’re easy to root for and of course addicting to read. 4.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Promised Neverland” Vol. 1, by Kaiu Shirai & Posuka Demizu

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Emma, Norman, and Ray live an idyllic life at the Grace Field House with other orphans as they wait to be adopted. When one of them, Cony, is adopted and forgets her doll, Emma and Norman attempt to return it to her and discover the horrible truth about where they live and the “Mom” who has been caring for them.

After I finished the anime, I saw people were posting about how it ended badly and was different from the manga. So, I decided to read them. This first volume follows the beats of the anime; introducing the children, Mom, where they live, and the twist of this not being just a story about some cute kids having adventures at their orphanage. The art style is versatile, able to be both cute and horrifying and there’s plenty of tension. Fantastic start. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Something is Killing the Children” Vol. 5, by James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera & Miquel Muerto

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A year after what happened in Archer’s Park, Erica goes to New Mexico to help a girl whose family was killed by a new kind of monster. However, she’s doing this against the orders of The House of Slaughter, putting a target on her back.

Of course the monster hunters would have issue with someone like Erica, who doesn’t care so much about all the cloak and dagger stuff and just wants to save as many people as she can. the person send after Erica is almost as frightening as the grotesque creature Erica is hunting in this volume. The kid, Gabi, has some moments where she’s annoying but I probably wouldn’t be the easiest to deal with if my family was killed. I do hope they soften her as the story goes on because she can be grating. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Closet” Vol. 1, by James Tynion IV, Gavin Fullerton & Chris O’Halloran

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Thom is moving his family across the country to try and leave behind whatever is haunting his son.

This collection seems like a preview for a longer volume. There is no resolution, this is all buildup. They move to the new house, the creature is there, the dad is an asshole, and that’s it. I like the set up but I’d be annoyed if I spent money on what seems like half a story. If there was more, I’d give it a higher rating because I like the concept and the art is cool. 3.2 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Slumber” Vol. 1, Tyler Burton Smith &Vanessa Cardinali

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Stetson is a nightmare hunger who ends up on the trail of a serial killer who killed her daughter.

This is pretty wild and creative; gory if that’s not your thing. The art style takes some getting used to but I think it fits with how chaotic it all feels. Stetson is is a kickass lead and I want to see how it all plays out but it took two reads for me to get all the information and adjust to the drawing style. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Orochi: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 3, by Kazuo Umezz

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This volume contains two stories:

  • Stage: A young boy named Yuichi whose father is tragically killed in a hit and run spends his life looking for the culprit he calls The Morning Man.
  • Combat: Orochi encounters Tadashi Okabe who has a very nice father with a horrifically dark past.

This one is not as good as the others. Instead of feeling unease or creeped out, I was just angry at the injustice of it all. The first one is so convoluted and the second (while better) could have been tighter so it didn’t end on a cliffhanger. I still get a little of that creepy feeling but not nearly as much as the previous volumes. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Golem of Venice Beach” by Chanan Beizer, Vanessa Cardinali, Bill Sienkiewicz, Jae Lee, Clem Robbins, Ferran Delgado, Michael Allred, Stephen R. Bissette, Paul Pope & Nick Pitarra

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Jake is coasting through life without much direction when he meets a woman named Erica with some shady connections that actually lead to a crazy cult. He’s in danger but Jake is the last of a bloodlike that is protected by Adam, a golem from the 1500’s.

It’s interesting seeing Kabbalah mysticism and Erica’s… Whatever she’s doing. And I like that Adam isn’t mindless; he has some agency of his own and rights and wrongs that don’t concern Jakes around Venice Beach. I didn’t expect this to be only the first half. I feel this is a disservice to the overall experience given the setup we have and how well it builds up the tension and conflict. It feels less like a cliffhanger and more of an interruption if that makes sense. 3.9 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Joe Hill’s Rain” by Joe Hill, David M. Booher & Zoe Thorogood

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature audiences.

Honeysuckle is finally moving in with her girlfriend but on the day of, the sky opens up and starts raining crystal spikes. 

This is an interesting sort of apocalypse but Joe pulls it off well with all the sad, scary, and touching notes a story like this needs to hit. Other than the method of near extinction, this isn’t much different from the standard world-ending type stories. The art has a roughness to it that makes the violence gritty but it can still be soft when the story calls for it. This is a quick read but not bad. 3.7 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Black Paradox” by Junji Ito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review. Trigger warning for suicide.

Four people meetup from a website called Black Paradox in order to commit suicide together. But when they reach their chosen location, strange events occur.

This one is strange even for Ito. The art is creepy, gloppy, drippy perfection as usual but the story went off in ways that were unexpected to say the least. I found myself feeling less creeped out and more baffled. And it just kinda… Stops? It turns into a creepy fetch quest and just ends. I love Ito’s work but this lacks direction as it goes. It started strong then spun out. It’s ok but I’ve read much better from him. 3 out of 5.

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