Never drive down a deserted road late at night … since you never know who you might meet.
Creative Staff:
Writer: Marco Lopez
Artwork: Roger Bonet
Colors: Sonia Moruno
Letters: Fabio Amelia
What They Say:
Vanishing Hitchhiker
It is ingrained in out minds to be wary of strangers. Travelers often tell tales of hitchhikers with sinister intentions. In this spin on a classic urban legend, a hitchhiker in desperate need of a ride may find himself in for more than he bargained when he stops at a 24-hour diner.
Content (please note that portions of a review may contain spoilers):
It was another late night on the road for William, driving down Route 66 in a daze and barely able to keep his eyes open or focused on the street before him. Once he nods off and catches himself after his quick nap, the headlights shine on a strangely dressed woman standing in his path. With a quick swerve, he is able to elude the deadly collision, only to find himself confronted by an obligatory deer and the inevitable tree. Furious and cursing at his own indecision, a call to the local tow service does not make his visit to this isolated area any better. As he storms his way into a roadside diner, his hostile attitude soon isolates himself from the crowd, until a redhead waitress offers a free cup of coffee and an ear to unravel his troubles. William’s story is not the first time she has heard about the mysterious figure, and her tale will tell of others who have met a similar fate.
A lone woman was wandering along the side of the road, having just broken up with her boyfriend when she was picked up by a couple of helpful strangers. As she sobbed uncontrollably in the rear seat complaining about his callous nature, the helpful samaritans soon lost their patience with the unruly passenger. As the two started to argue as to how to control this hysterical girl, they soon realized that this was not the same person they picked up, but some unearthly abomination determined to take revenge. William was quickly jarred back to reality, obviously rattled by the hostess’ story and turned to leave – these kind of stories were unnerving to him and decided that his time would better be spent waiting for the wrecker. But why did she tell him that horrid tale aside from the undeniable pleasure of scaring him or was there a more sinister reason behind her tale of terror?
In Summary:
Everyone knows the tale of a hitchhiker wandering along a deserted stretch of road, waiting for a kind stranger to pick them up – it is the classic opening of many movies and has become ingrained into numerous urban legends and current pop culture. However when someone tries to turn a familiar story into something new, as writer Marco Lopez did for this issue of Grimm Tales of Terror, this premier standard of the horror genre can quickly degrade into the blasé if it is not treated correctly, and that is the unfortunate situation in his version of the story. Although he was able to create a conventional opening, as the narrative expanded and Lopez attempted to elaborate on his interpretation, the truest sense of the tale became lost; when he added more details and attempted to flesh out the story, the reader gets lost along the way, quickly straying from the path while more atmosphere is added. Lopez could have stopped once his rendition was complete, but once he tacked on another sub-story in order get more of a fright factor, the impact of the first was watered down. Then to add insult to injury, yet another twist was added at the end, denying Keres her trophy. Why call this an issue of GTOT if the main purpose to punish the guilty is denied?
While the artwork of a series can either save or sink an issue, in this case, Roger Bonet’s illustrations did a bit of both. His visually constrictive images do serve to center the eye on the most important element of the story, the characters, by drawing the reader into the narrative. This method works marvelously with most of the tale when Sonia Moruno beautifully demonstrates her haunting usage of darker tones and sepias which highlight Bonet’s striking drawings, concentrating the horror during those events. However, this drawing style works against him when the action moves into the diner, moments where Moruno surrounds the cast with white tones and brighter shades to accent these calmer scenes. Although it is not as noticeable during the sober events since the murky colors hide them, Bonet uses a very dark line to accentuate his drawings, and these subtleties are magnified in these exposition settings. Granted that this method helps to heighten the stress and emotion within the grimmer instances, but now it works against the story by having that same elevated emphasis during tranquility. At times, it almost seems that the characters are being forced to smile or emote any type of feeling; an insincere grin can mean many things, but when you combine it with fixed pupils, it just makes a person look plain creepy … and not in a good way.
This story may have begun as an intriguing translation for a well-known cautionary tale, warning of the need to help your fellow man, but somewhere along the line it veered off the road and landed precariously perched on the edge of a steep cliff. While Lopez and Bonet may have tried to save it by digging in their creative heels, however, neither of their efforts were enough to save it; although both attempted to anchor it to a stable foundation, that ground crumbled quickly due to too much force being used in the rescue effort. This is a shame since while they did give it their best, too much force can be just as bad as too little … and we can see how either can result in a fiery explosion.
Grade: C+
Rating: M (Mature)
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: August 24th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
