Who wouldn’t want a second chance … but do you really deserve it?
Creative Staff:
Writer: Dan Wickline
Artwork: Josh George & Ronilson Freire
What They Say:
Buried Alive
The newest issue of Zenescope’s horror anthology is here! As Keres continues her path of punishing the wicked, one man will wish for a second chance he may not get.
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Bratva is not someone you want to cross, especially when you have as much bad luck as Adrian. After getting laid off, he helped the gang to earn some quick money – just an easy smash and grab; but it’s not that simple when you lose your mask and shoot a cop in front of a security camera. Of course, the boss wasn’t too pleased when his faced was plastered all over the papers with the headline: Cop Killer!
Now all he wants to do now is to tie up some loose ends, namely one incompetent looser. As he begs for his life, all Adrian can think of is his wife and two kids, how will they survive without him? However, these words fall on deaf ears as the hardened criminals know that is either him or them; mercy is not in their vocabulary. And as they lower him into the cold ground, pleas echoing from the pine box, they joke that he should have thought of that before he botched the job.
Some time later, Adrian wakes up to find himself entombed within the claustrophobic coffin; and yet, all he can think of is his family – he must get out. Straining against the brittle timbers, he forces his way out, greeted by the welcoming embrace of the cold dark ground. Emerging from the damp earth, he knows that he is a wanted man, but all that he cares about is getting home. It’s just a little further, just a little further, this mantra the only thing keeping his will alive. He pushes his aching limbs until the familiar confines of his old life are within sight. At last … Home Sweet Home.
But, not all is as he imagined. Even as Adrian pushes the curtains away into his son’s room, his first thought is how much he has grown. His little boy, however, does not greet him with open arms, but with horrified screams for his mommy. She in turn answers the shadowy stranger with a hail of bullets, forcing him to retreat in confusion from his only sanctuary. How did it end like this?
Cursing under his breath, he knows he can’t go back, at least not now. But, first things first, Adrian needs to tend to his wounds; he knows he was hit but why can’t he feel anything? Just a quick look in the mirror to survey the damage, until he sees the newspaper: the year is 2015? Wait a minute, it’s 2013, isn’t it – this can’t be right. All doubt is erased when he sees that he isn’t the same person: Adrian has left his fetid confines a changed man and time has not been kind.
In Summary:
The overall tone of this tale is wondrously told by Dan Wickline’s morbid musings. Although the premise has tinges of The Fugitive and Kill Bill Volume 2, the ending was quite unexpected and it sets itself apart by engendering the reader to invest themselves into Adrian’s quest. We have all known the pain of being apart from the ones we love and so his pursuit makes the story all the more gripping. It is a pity it had to be cut short to turn it into a horror piece since the main plot could have been expanded into a moving drama.
The other dampener on the issue was the use of two artists to tell the same story. Instead of changing the mood, it has the opposite effect by detracting from the narrative and focusing more on the artwork. Although the use of Josh George’s work to depict Adrian’s live journey & Ronilson Freire’s somber art to illustrate a descent into the undead may have sounded like a good idea on paper, the completed work clashes with itself to make it an uneasy read.
Overall, while the book does have a good premise, the execution was not done cleanly to do it service in the short term. One artist would have been enough if they changed their drawing technique to portray the two phases of Adrian’s trip, but instead, the two different styles conflict and muddy the path home. It is a shame since this could have been an enjoyable romp into Grimm’s Tales of Terror.
Grade: B+
Rating: 16+
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: July 1st, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
