When monsters attack your camp, never panic … unless you want to die!
Creative Staff:
Writer: Victoria Rau
Artwork: Marcelo Basile
Letters: Charles Pritchett
What They Say:
A mother seeking solace with her two teenage children after a recent tragedy signs up for a group hiking and camping tour. But navigating the difficult terrain is the least of the hikers’ worries as the group soon finds they’re being stalked by unseen predators.
Content (please note that portions of review may contain spoilers):
After they settled in for the night at Peek-A-Boo Gulch, the hikers were not expecting the events which unfolded before them in ghastly horror and ghoulish ferocity. As abominations swarmed the camp, two of their number immediately fell while the rest scattered, all trying to save their own lives, not knowing the creatures had taken others. But as each individual desperately tried to barter for safety, it was only those of the Colter family who remained sane and fought back, much to the amazement of others. While her children Maggie and John attempt to protect those less than able, mother Pam makes it back to the guide station, only to reveal to the monsters who unfortunately followed her, she is not as helpless as she seems.
With dawn breaking and the full extent of what happened now made clear, the survivors access the situation, with the Colters clearly in charge. Two of their members are missing – daughter Debbie and wife Emmy have been kidnapped, but it is only husband Barry who is panicking, with mother Pam knowing her child can take care of herself. Even as their loved ones wonder what is happening, the young women find themselves retrained, with the elder captive hysterical from fear. After careful joint manipulation, the Colter sibling easily frees herself from her bonds and tries to calm the fellow prisoner as she cuts the ropes. Blunt to the point of being cruel she chastises Emmy and tells her to follow if she wants to live and leads the way through the dimly lit tunnels, only to realize they are lost. It is only until she hears a guttural roar echoing through the caves does the girl know what she must do – lead guards away so the other may escape. But is this the only way … or is there another method to escape from the madness?
In Summary:
When I read the first issue of this title, I was hoping the narrative would evolve some as it progressed, but it is readily apparent writer Victoria Rau is still trying to replicate an overambitious and trite horror tale. Previously it was established this title is attempting to emulate the plot from The Hills Have Eyes, but now with the second book, we have elements from another classic film – Terminator 2: Judgment Day. To have the predictability of one movie is discouraging, but to add more components from another iconic movie waters down the tension by making Pam look like Sarah Connor, with her children all trained to be ready for the apocalypse. Why create the story if you are going to introduce people prepared for the challenges ahead? And what makes this issue even more objectionable is the choice of weapons which the Colters conveniently had via a gun safe in their van … semi-automatic assault rifles. With the recent shootings with this type of weapon in the news, is it wise to show our heroes armed with these guns – especially when the kids are all in their teens, or younger? It was provocative to make Maggie and John proficient knife fighters, but then to show the former sporting this infamous gun in a threatening manner, that does not make myself comfortable as what will happen in the upcoming issues. Even if we think of the abominations as zombies being mowed down by these guns from any popular first person shooter video game, the age of the players are the loathsome issue for the story.
With this second issue, I thought the illustrations might become a bit more accepting as we are accustomed to Marcelo Basile’s unique art style and coloring techniques, but unfortunately, that is not the case. Just as before it seems as if the gritty crudeness of the images plus a rushed and sloppy application of color only has more become pronounced as we are adapted to his imagery. In fact with the new death count opening page to introduce the story, you are more aware as to the atrocities with each character’s portraits, jaundiced skin tones emphasized by a blood red background. With your eyes now adjusted to these eccentric drawings, when you see survivors compared to abnormals, the only differentiation between the two appears to be grotesquely deformed bodies since everything is now monochrome due to a hastily applied palette. There is not much incentive to pay attention to the panels since everything melds together, and the only reason to watch is to follow the action. In fact it might actually bring more relief to the eyes if all colors were dropped and a standard ink wash were used, even in the valiant attempt to bring momentum by showing Pam imitate our Terminator heroine by mowing down zombies. Finally when Basile adds the procedure of amplifying surface textures by using brush splatters, it makes those effected panels seem to have ink split upon them, making the pages appear to be sloppier than ever within this overall mess.
Peek-A-Boo is slowly sliding further in the primordial abyss, and not in a good way. While simplicity may work for most things, this is of one those times were it backfires, instead making the audience bored with the an artistic style which seems rushed and hastily splashed with color. Then add a narrative which is too familiar, characters which are one dimensional and finally inject children using weapons which open too many tender wounds and we end up with something which has no where else to go but up … hopefully?
Grade: D
Rating: T (Teen)
Released By: Zenescope
Release Date: April 11, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
