Zenescope Entertainment 2015
Written by Anne Toole
Illustrated by Alexandre Nascimento
Coloured by Marco Lesko
Lettered by Fabio Amelia
Monte is about to make his greatest discovery inside the tomb of a long-forgotten Pharaoh, but his need for glory causes him to make a horrific decision. In a time before King Tut became a household name, Monte will find that fame sometimes has a steep price.
First let me say it’s amazingly delightful to see the work of Eric J. on the cover for this. I wish he were doing more work in comics these days because he really is a talented and gifted artist.
Last issues beginning of season two set the bar really high for this series and i’m happy that the second issue was just as good as I’d have hoped it would be. Anne takes an interesting story premise and what was once a popular theme in old horror movies and brings us this wonderful tale. Gosh mummies and ancient Egypt and a jealous man and a jilted lover all conspire to make one of those stories that reminds us a time when jealousy and murder had more finesse and romanticism than it does today.
Alexandre and Marco do this magnificent job in bringing this to life. The look and feel of Egypt back in the 20’s when Archeologists wore suits and dressed well for their photo ops it is all remarkably brought back to life here. I also really enjoyed the way that the whole depiction of what we see from them engages the reader’s mind and imagination rather than simply showcasing such grisly and gruesome events. It’s quite an effective tool in keeping the reader engaged and it worked for folks like Hitchcock and those that came before him and the mind really is a powerful tool in creating more fear than what we see.
I love that we don’t see our red haired woman narrating this or really playing any kind of role at all here. It gives us more room for this story to be told and quite honestly we don’t need her. Sure the Cryptkeeper was fun and all and Rod Serling was a great host but we don’t need that anymore and these stories are definitely strong enough to stand on their own without her.
It’s hard to talk about this story without giving too much away and honestly it’s so good that everyone should be reading it. I like to think that volume 2 of this series has become a smarter more intelligent way to tell horror stories that pay homage to the past and keep moving into the future. What better way to continue that than with a story from the twenties that focuses on a Mummy and a man who doesn’t like being overshadowed?
Come see what Zenescope is doing to bring back horror to a whole new level.