Joel Phillips
Apr 24, 2004, 10:54 pm
<a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/ind/bbh1a.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/ind/bbh1at.jpg" align=left alt="By Bizarre Hands #1"></a><a href="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/ind/bbh1b.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/covers/ind/bbh1bt.jpg" align=left alt="By Bizarre Hands #1"></a>Reviewer: Joel Phillips
Quick Rating: Average
Story: Joe R. Lansdale
Sequential Adaptation: Neal Barrett Jr.
Artwork: Dheeraj Verma
Covers: Jacen Burrows
Cover Color: Greg Waller from Nimbus Studios
Editor-in-Chief: William Christensen
Creative Director: Mark Seifert
Published By: Avatar Press
Intended for Mature Readers
By Bizarre Hands is a six issue mini-series featuring comic book adaptations of short stories by horror writer Joe R. Lansdale. Each issue promises to recreate a different story, beginning here with the story for which the series is named, By Bizarre Hands.
Unfortunately, this debut is not as strong as I’m sure the creators hoped for. For the story that is important enough to get the marquee billing in this mini-series, By Bizarre Hands is a pretty basic, easy to digest horror story. I’m not going to get into the story, because I don’t want to be accused of giving anything away, particularly in light of the accusation I am about to make.
Many if not most horror stories rely on the “terrible secret”, where something unseen and horrifying is revealed towards the end of the tale which flips everything on its head, and makes those things which were seemingly “off” all the more clear and shocking. This method is used all the time in horror, and it can be used very well; but it requires a degree of subtlety, lest the secret be guessed too soon. This is precisely the problem with By Bizarre Hands. I was pretty sure I knew what was going on about five pages into the issue, and I was absolutely positive not long after that. By the time the “terrible secret” came to light, I’d already resigned myself to it as fact. The end result is a story which doesn’t succeed in shocking or disturbing, because the twist is an easily identifiable fact far too early.
There are good points, however. I like Lansdale’s dialogue style, particularly in his slightly off-beat but strangely appropriate euphemisms. It’s clear that there’s talent there, which makes me hopeful that other stories recreated in this series will be better.
Verma’s art is pretty good, and quite consistent from panel to panel and page to page. I do have to penalize the art a bit, however, since I think it plays a big part in letting the cat out of the bag too early. Anyone looking at just the first two or three pages will know what I mean.
A disappointing debut, but anthologies always have the potential to bounce back. The dialogue is sharp enough that I’ll give #2 a try, to see if the next story catches me.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avahalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avahalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg
Quick Rating: Average
Story: Joe R. Lansdale
Sequential Adaptation: Neal Barrett Jr.
Artwork: Dheeraj Verma
Covers: Jacen Burrows
Cover Color: Greg Waller from Nimbus Studios
Editor-in-Chief: William Christensen
Creative Director: Mark Seifert
Published By: Avatar Press
Intended for Mature Readers
By Bizarre Hands is a six issue mini-series featuring comic book adaptations of short stories by horror writer Joe R. Lansdale. Each issue promises to recreate a different story, beginning here with the story for which the series is named, By Bizarre Hands.
Unfortunately, this debut is not as strong as I’m sure the creators hoped for. For the story that is important enough to get the marquee billing in this mini-series, By Bizarre Hands is a pretty basic, easy to digest horror story. I’m not going to get into the story, because I don’t want to be accused of giving anything away, particularly in light of the accusation I am about to make.
Many if not most horror stories rely on the “terrible secret”, where something unseen and horrifying is revealed towards the end of the tale which flips everything on its head, and makes those things which were seemingly “off” all the more clear and shocking. This method is used all the time in horror, and it can be used very well; but it requires a degree of subtlety, lest the secret be guessed too soon. This is precisely the problem with By Bizarre Hands. I was pretty sure I knew what was going on about five pages into the issue, and I was absolutely positive not long after that. By the time the “terrible secret” came to light, I’d already resigned myself to it as fact. The end result is a story which doesn’t succeed in shocking or disturbing, because the twist is an easily identifiable fact far too early.
There are good points, however. I like Lansdale’s dialogue style, particularly in his slightly off-beat but strangely appropriate euphemisms. It’s clear that there’s talent there, which makes me hopeful that other stories recreated in this series will be better.
Verma’s art is pretty good, and quite consistent from panel to panel and page to page. I do have to penalize the art a bit, however, since I think it plays a big part in letting the cat out of the bag too early. Anyone looking at just the first two or three pages will know what I mean.
A disappointing debut, but anthologies always have the potential to bounce back. The dialogue is sharp enough that I’ll give #2 a try, to see if the next story catches me.
ART:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg
STORY:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avahalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg
OVERALL:
http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avafull.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avahalf.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/reviews/avanone.jpg