Self-Published 2018
Created & Written by Scott Ian Lewis
Illustrated by Christian Dibari
Coloured by Simon Cough
Lettered by Taylor Esposito of Ghost Glyph Studios
Troy Graves is no stranger to death. Now that he's an embalmer at Sunset Hills Mortuary he's never been closer to it. But behind the closed doors of the prep room all is not right. Bodies seem to appear and disappear mysteriously. And he's not the only one who's noticed... Following the horrific death of a City Councilman, Troy finds himself drawn back into a violent existence he'd kill to forget.
I have to say that this was kind of surprising to me. I mean to centre around death isn’t anything new but to focus on this aspect of it from a Morticians point of view is something I really don’t think we’ve seen. Then to add into it corruption and a side business well suddenly you have something else entirely. There is something here that I found to be incredibly intriguing and interesting and the way that we see this all play out showed me something about Scott Ian Lewis that I hadn’t known previously. Actually I hadn’t known anything about him his style of music after all isn’t my forte and I haven’t had any cause to be introduced to it.
You can tell that Scott is used to writing though not as used to writing in this form. Some of the transitions are a little rough and choppy but that doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. The way that this is structured is pretty nice to see and how the flow and the dispensation of information is brought to the audience shows a nice understanding of what needs to be done. We are introduced to a number of characters here and they all have these wonderfully different roles and how they will come to merge into one cohesive story is something I want to see happen.
There is a nice diversity among the characters and the hint of backstory that’s been revealed which kind of makes what we’re seeing more intense. Troy’s interaction with his sister, the reveal at the strip club and the forcing of the man he works with introducing him to the reality of his world all conspire to add flair and drama in ways that stand out. Throw in the Medical Examiner and her girlfriend who happens to be a cop and well the cast rounds itself in ways where it doesn’t matter where you look everyone has a stake in this for a myriad of reasons. Scott Ian really pulls you into this story in ways that you’ll find impress, excite and surprise you at every turn.
I am rather impressed and interested in what’s happening with the interior artwork here. There’s something about the eyes that we see at times that scream zombie or some kind of demon and it creates for this unique tension upon seeing it. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows off a great strong eye for storytelling. When we see backgrounds being utilised they really do wonders in expanding the moment and the story beautifully. I think the way that the linework is manipulated so we get to see these interesting lines that show off subtlety and boldness work really well here. Also thanks for showing a middle aged bellied man with a large penis.
There is a great story here and getting to see the beginning of it unfold here is one of those moments that excites me as a reader. I haven’t seen anything like this on stands and from the direction it seems to be going in and what the catalysts for the different characters are it is almost like something that HBO would commission as a series. This is the kind of freshness that the industry needs and it’s nice to see a crossover from an established musical artist like Scott Ian.