Dynamite Entertainment 2015
Written by Keith Davidsen
Illustrated by Randy Valiente
Coloured by Jorge Sutil
Susan Greene, still haunted after two years by the unsolved murder of her fiancé, sought to fill the void in her life by working as Dr. Herbert West’s assistant. West, the infamous Reanimator, is obsessed with overcoming death by chemical means, a process that requires costly resources. His solution to the financial burden? He sells zombie brain fluid as a narcotic to the Eldritch Krewe, whose leader Croceus Rex has abused the mind-altering drug, and can now commune with the sleeping Elder God, Cthulhu. While Herbert West survives an attempted assassination by Samedi, a Voodoo hitman employed by a rival drug cartel, Susan gets caught in a double-cross, as the Eldritch Krewe capture her as leverage against West. Witnessing the death of The Valusian, a half-human, half-alligator hybrid created as the Reanimator’s loyal servant, Susan discovers the weird creature’s true identity: none other than her own beloved Nathan Davis, raised from the dead. Captured by Croceus Rex, Susan is overwhelmed by the belief that Herbert West killed the love of her life.
Well this issue takes a strange turn of events and with everything that’s happened thus far that’s saying something. As Dr. West arrives to make the exchange and save Susan promising them the Eunique for her safe return you have the feeling he’s doing something to set them up or ensure this will be to his advantage. Keith has been able to really make him this interesting man where science comes above all else where nothing but his ambition matters. Though Susan may be challenging that notion a bit it’s still a great look at the man.
What West does to Susan however after the exchange is made was a huge surprise! Not that i’m complaining because it really threw me for a loop and it’s this kind of unexpected behavior and actions that make reading this so much fun.
We see Susan tied to a table and one of the failed zombie experiments there and also here we get the two finally talking about everything. From Susan’s discovery of what West had done and his explanation of why he chose her it’s all laid out on the table and they’ve got someone there as well listening to the whole thing. You’d think that’s careless but West doesn’t do anything without a reason and letting him stay chained up listening to this exchange well you can bet your bottom dollar there’s a huge reason for that.
Keith has taken to us as readers as he reveals everything they both know and what Susan didn’t know about her boyfriend. When West discovered Susan he watched her and followed her learning all about her to make sure that she’d be compatible to work with him. Her boyfriend well that was just a bonus or happy accident that helped draw them together. With not all their problems sorted through things look to be escalating and quickly so I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next and who does and doesn’t survive this little adventure.
While I wish that we got a more detailed style of interior artwork to balance out the creepy Cthulhu moments which are pretty near perfect would have added dimension to the story for me instead of everything tending to look a little flat and similar. It doesn’t stop you from getting a great experience out of this series it’s still exciting and fun and seeing his experiments come to life here is pretty great stuff.