pedestrienne

I feel like I need to instate a "tawdry" shelf for this one. Although I'm not sure why the description say s FOR MATURE READERS - this is no worse than many of the dark comics written for adults. it's a nested story fueled on melodrama and a Dark Secret that causes our proxy protagonist to become obsessed with the worldview he reads in his collection of African statues and masks - his story is told via a telepath who has a collection of dead people. he's telling the story to a delivery boy whose family's shop has the misfortune of supplying the protag's groceries every week. Hine's art is built on strong shadows and thick black lines, especially in intense moments. He plays on the theme of the African masks in his character designs and facial expressions as well, building in the emotion and the ...leitmotif(?) that way, and this adds an extra dimension of harshness and foreboding to what might otherwise be an over the top story of a seriously dysfunctional family (with a layer of effed up paranomral boarder on top). If you've read the adaptations of Lovecraft and been disappointed, this one would be for you. it's more original and has more ins to connecting with the people in the story. I think using human folly as the crux of the shocking content adds to the story in the way that tentacled otherworldy gods cannot.