THE THRILLS!
THE CHILLS!
THE SHIVERS!
THE BOOK OF LIES HAS IT ALL!
Billed as a horror anthology, the Book of Lies is a loosely interconnected series of stories done by a rotating roster of artists, some beautiful and all terrible. The endings are invariably twisted, and often the entire story is. It's intriguing and repelling in equal measure, and if you're a horror aficionado it's definitely worth a read....but not if you've got a tendency towards nightmares or a sensitive stomach.
The Rating
Fascinating and frightening, but a little rough and in need of some polishing
The Raves
Some really creative things have been done with storytelling in this piece; a princess in a tower turns out to be put there for a VERY good reason,
a zombie tries to do a good deed that goes terribly wrong, a mother makes an ill-fated deal. A lot of creativity has gone into the storytelling, and the twists at the end of each tale really work to keep you reading. Cleverly designed to shock and disturb, there is a strong flavor of Crypt Keeper and 'Are You Afraid Of The Dark' in these tales, but unadorned with the campiness that softened the blow in those works.
The rotating lineup of artwork includes some really good artists, and each artist is well paired with the piece they illustrate. I was impressed! Monique Blaize did wonderfully dynamic things with 'City Of Demons', and
The rotating lineup of artwork includes some really good artists, and each artist is well paired with the piece they illustrate. I was impressed! Monique Blaize did wonderfully dynamic things with 'City Of Demons', and
It was a creative take on tropes and fairy tales of all genres.
The Razzes
But...
this story would grab readers a lot more easily if its introduction were improved on. Five pages of prose is a rocky start for any comic, and five pages of prose full of typos and misspellings is a BIG drawback. Every little typo is a tiny pang for a conscious reader.
Some of the artists could also work on improving their craft; Clarissa Fillice needs to work on her anatomy style, which gets a little too stiff at times, and Henry Simon could work on the same thing and improve his sense of the shape of the human skull, though the woodcut style of his art does mitigate that problem somewhat. Pramit Santra's work is a little fuzzy and needs sharpening when it's scanned in, and Gabriel Rossman has some really interesting ideas and a neat color scheme, but facial features could use some work.
All in all, the artists did very well, I only mention these suggestions as ideas for improvement. What really holds Book of Lies back is that painfully ponderous and unexamined prologue. Clean that thing up and tighten it up too, and you'd have a real winner! Even add some more imagery; after all, it is the beginning of A COMIC.
Some of the artists could also work on improving their craft; Clarissa Fillice needs to work on her anatomy style, which gets a little too stiff at times, and Henry Simon could work on the same thing and improve his sense of the shape of the human skull, though the woodcut style of his art does mitigate that problem somewhat. Pramit Santra's work is a little fuzzy and needs sharpening when it's scanned in, and Gabriel Rossman has some really interesting ideas and a neat color scheme, but facial features could use some work.
All in all, the artists did very well, I only mention these suggestions as ideas for improvement. What really holds Book of Lies back is that painfully ponderous and unexamined prologue. Clean that thing up and tighten it up too, and you'd have a real winner! Even add some more imagery; after all, it is the beginning of A COMIC.
The Revue
If you like to shiver, give it a read.
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