Writers: Lauren Beukes and Dale Halvorsen

Artist: Ryan Kelly

Colorist: Eva De La Cruz

In addition to comics, I’ve always been fascinated with horror movies, especially the slashers from the 70s and 80s. Nightmare on Elm Street remains one of my favorite movies of all time, Halloween is cinematic genius, I could go on. Once I found out (later than I should have, but that’s because of my own stupidity) about Vertigo’s Survivors Club, I had to get my hands on it. Issue 1 was a love letter to those movies I adore, and with issue 2, I was hoping for more of the same.

The story progresses in issue 2, as our cast of characters look to move forward after discovering they are all on a list, found on the “dark web” and the other names on it have all been killed. As it turns out, all the characters were victims of horrific events in their past, many of which draw upon some classic horror movies we know and love. Here, as those who want to investigate look further into the killer video game, Alice and Simon get to know each other a little more closely. After the revelation about Alice on the last page of the previous issue, she’s becoming the most compelling character of the book. I don’t want to spoil any of the events of the book, but basically, Alice has an altercation with whatever is taking out those on the list, but in a crazy unique way, having consequences for the future story. While I was really drawn in by this story, and Simon’s later in the issue, the story of the others left me wanting a little. I know having issues focus on one section of the story isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I just found myself a little bored in finding out about the video game. That said, Beukes and Halvorsen are creating a compelling world for these characters, a world that any fan of horror should love and check out. In addition, this book feels like a Vertigo book, which is always a warm and fuzzy feeling for me.

Man, Ryan Kelly is absolutely knocking it out of the park with this series. His rendering of these characters is so sleek, but also full of life and cartooning. Each character is so distinct, and each panel is a joy to look at. When we move into a flashback in the middle of the issue, De La Cruz muted the colors a bit, and the pencils just sung. That one point in the issue really reminded me of Tyler Crook’s work on Harrow County, beautiful but full of dread. Kelly also proves to be a perfect fit for the book in that he draws some truly terrifying panels, both in terms of gruesomeness and just plain old scary images that stick with you.

With a mixture of compelling story and breathtaking art, Survivors Club continues its solid start. As I said last week, Vertigo is back and it feels so good.

 

4 Empty Airs out of 5