Black Label from DC Comics once again brings us a Joe Hill Comics title; it’s the cool, crisp “Refrigerator Full of Heads”. And we ain’t talking about iceberg lettuce!
There is a break-in and armed robbery in 1983. In the brutal home invasion, several things are taken, including a dagger. The dagger is said to have mystical power.
The following year, 1984, (“now”) in Brody Maine, two young vacationers are arriving at a cottage. Well, it doesn’t take long before the two ‘city folk’ are riling up the local bikers, and all hell is breaking loose! How are the events connected?
It’s a wild vacation ride for the reader. Writer Rio Youers plays with stereotypes and genre, blending horror with the cliches of Maine, small-town locals, talkative criminals, and all sorts of other tropes. But the blend is original and tightly composed. Perhaps there is an overly heavy reliance on dialogue to tell the story in some passages, but let’s bypass that thought and wade into looking at the artwork… Tom Fowler channels 1950s EC horror comics, with the look of Jack Davis’ art a strong influence. Fowler’s characters emote, smolder, scowl and grimace. They chortle, snicker, and misbehave. They twist and yaw and spiral out of control, a manic ballet of poses and postures. They fold and spindle and mutilate each other out of spite. It’s massively entertaining. Colour is by Bill Crabtree, with lettering by Andworld Design.
It’s brutal, it’s horror soaked, it’s just in time for Halloween.
DC Comics, Refrigerator Full Of Heads #1, $3.99 for 23 pages of content. 17+
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