Anytime Steve Niles and the late Bernie Wrightson got together, something horrible happened. And that’s a good thing!

And now, there is a 10th Anniversary Edition of one ‘horrible’ book, the horror-filled City of Others, from Dark Horse.

The story is by Steve Niles and Bernie Wrightson, with pencil artwork by Wrightson, coloured by José Villarrubia.

Without getting too far into describing the story, let’s call it a throwback to those legendary comic book days of yore, the EC Comics of the early 1950s. Where corpses had rolling eyes, gore was just another four letter word, and anything that could give you shivers would become next month’s comic story. Bloody well right.

City of Others revolves around a central character; Stosh Bludowski is a sociopath with a taste for killing… okay, so he’s a psychopath. He kills for money, but mostly to stave off boredom. But when Stosh tries to kill the ‘unkillable’, then things start to go ‘horribly’ wrong! Talking heads, transplants, zombies, vampires, hey, it’s all good.

It’s fine work by Wrightson, perhaps not his best, as the character action sometimes feels a bit stiff and awkward. But if you are up for the jolts and stabs of the mighty uncomfortable, then the stiffness won’t be an issue. Joint pain? There are so many ways to sever the parts of the body!!!

Effectively coloured by Villarubia from Wrightson’s detailed pencils.

Bonus pages in this hardcover collection (issues 1-4) include story thumbnails, pencil drawings, character sketches, and location drawings.

Dark Horse, City of Others 10th Anniversary Edition. Price approx $19.99 for 138 pages of content. Rating Mature for horror

By Alan Spinney

After a career of graphic design, art direction and copywriting, I still have a passion for words and pictures. I love it when a comic book comes together; the story is tight, and the drawings lead me forward. Art with words... the toughest storytelling technique to get right. Was this comic book worth your money? Let's see!!