by Darren Lynn Bousman (creator), Michael Peterson (concept), Rob Levin (writer), Troy Peteri (writer & letterer), Bing Cansino (art), and Andre Pervukhin (colors)
The Story: Real-estate agent Rich Ashwalt finds himself tasked with selling a house stained by a horrific, bloody massacre. Enter Jebediah Crone, a creepy guy who seems weirdly eager to purchase the place…
What’s Good: I’ve often felt that the best horror stories are those that feel realistic in its setting and its characters. The closer to reality, the more unsettling the injected disturbance is. Abattoir seems to get this.
Main character Rich Ashwalt is a strong one if only because of his normalcy. His marital discord with his wife feels natural, as it never comes close to reaching over the top histrionics. There’s a sense of distrust, tension, and loss, but also love. Similarly, Rich’s relationship with his daughter is tender and paints Rich instantly as a good father, yet it never veers close to feeling saccharine or picturesque. In many ways, the same goes for his friendship with his work buddy Patrick, which, while their back-and-forth dynamic is fun to read, feels common. All of this makes Abattoir’s world relatable.
This makes the more mysterious horror elements all the more menacing. There’s a constant tension and a sense of something encroaching. In some ways, it mirrors the tension in Rich’s marriage; it’s there, roiling beneath the surface and becoming increasingly anxious to break the surface. The gory massacre that haunts the town’s memory plays a big role in this; it’s a bubbling over of the horror and insanity that lurks below all the every day normalcy of this setting and its characters and now, in Abattoir’s world, it continues to linger. The town and its characters are forced to confront, and unable to forget, this ugliness, no matter how much they want to. That, in itself, is quintessentially Gothic.
Fascinatingly, that element of horror comes to manifest itself later in the issue in the form of Jebediah Crone, a creepy old man who’s good fun to read, but never feels overly ghoulish or over the top. There’s only a constant sense of wrongness to the character, a sense that he is distinctly other to the rest of our cast of ordinary folks.
Art-wise, Radical always puts out gorgeous, digitally painted books and Abattoir is no different. It’s a solid outing by Radical standards with, at times, something of a water-color effect. There’s a great sense of lighting as well; sunshine is glorious, shadows unnerving. And when the blood flows, well, it really flows.
What’s Not So Good: With this being a six issue series, this first issue is, unfortunately, almost all set-up. We get disappointingly little of Crone, though it’s clear that that’ll change in ensuing issues. Honestly, it’s unclear what this comic’s hook really is until about three-quarters in, when a character mentions a rumour that he’s heard. Up until that point, it was unclear what exactly Bousman created, or what Peterson’s concept is. Even by issue’s end, all we have is that pair of sentences. I like where I think we’re going, but I still can’t be sure where that is and as such, there’s only so high I can grade this.
There are also a couple of dream sequences that are a bit confusing on an art level. Part of it is due to a lack of info, but the faces of the characters are just unremarkable enough that it’s hard to tell who’s who when you enter surreal visions with close-up shots. I’m not sure what was going on in these sequences but, annoyingly, I know they’re important.
Conclusion: Just in time for Halloween, Abattoir looks to be a solid dose of creepiness with much more to come.
Grade: B
-Alex Evans
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