Dark Horse unleashes The Keller Bros’ “Death Head,” a supernatural-horror thriller and it hits all the creepy notes just right! There’s a lot of great titles from Dark Horse and this is one of them. Here’s one for you that exemplifies the Dark Horse sensibility. Here’s something that has the writing and artwork chops to give you a good scare. It taps into the classic bogeyman archetype with a fresh and down-to-basics approach.
In a smooth and seemingly effortless manner, we follow three different stories that are all connected in some way with our bogeyman. We don’t know much at all about him in this first issue. But we get some clues: this bogeyman is legendary and he’s very much alive. Good, so far. Joanna Estep provides first-rate horror comic art with dramatic settings and believable characters. This is all complemented by warm and spooky coloring by Kelly Fitzpatrick.
The characters in each subplot are all worthy of further study. We have Justine and Niles Burton, a couple on vacation in a national park. We have Lena and Maggie, two misfits in a Catholic girls school. And we have Bee, a little boy who is bullied into a tunnel where he meets Rosie, who appears to be a ghost. Oh, and there is quite a connection here: Justine and Niles are the parents of Maggie and Bee. You can just imagine all the possibilities when you have a family separated and a super scary killer has targeted them.
For this first issue, I really don’t think I could spoil anything. It’s a great setting up of events and anticipation for what’s to come. For something like this to work, well, it needs to jump out and grab somebody like me who has read a lot of stuff and has a pretty solid quality detector. This title passes with flying colors.
And this comic is sure to satisfy a huge Keller Bros. fan base: Zack Keller (cocreator of “Dick Figures,” the Streamy, IAWTV, and Annie Award–nominated web series with 650 million+ YouTube views) and Nick Keller (Turner of the Century). With “Death Head,” Zack and Nick Keller together deliver a supernatural-horror thriller about family and creeping, terrifying murder!
“Death Head #1” is out on July 15, 2015. It’s 32 pages and priced at $3.99. For more details, visit our friends at Dark Horse Comics right here.
