American Gothic Press 2016
Written by Tom Riordan
Illustrated by Nathan Gooden
Lettered by Marshall Dillon
So last issue Choir and Nari met up and seemed to strike a bargain to work together. Then Jenson, Torrance, Richards and Roy show up as a team to take them out. Nari had been injected with some drug before and now seems to be running on pure adrenaline.
All right boys and girls children of all ages as your attention is focused on the center ring prepare to be amazed! Seriously though in all honesty prepare to be amazed. We open up seeing more about those in charge of this insane contest. I like this because it shows the real time aspect from multiple angles instead of focusing on the players or the big cheese. With six contestants now working in groups they become instantly disqualified, it’s in the rules. However the betters still placing wagers on Choir and Nari so they have to adapt in mission control.
Honest but ruthless it’s a business and he’s got to run it by the rules laid down and boy does that add an extra dimension to things. A group of Killbox personnel, a hit squad basically, have been sent to eliminate those disqualified players. Only Choir and Nari manage to escape and cause a lot of damage along the way. Now with the updates that they are disqualified and kill on site has been issued to both remaining players and Killbox hit squads alike how long can this unlikely pair remain alive?
This whole thing has been extremely exciting, fun, nasty and bloody violent from the get go and it fascinates me to no end. The writing and characterization by Tom has been exceptional. It’s everything, and more, you want from an underground game played out in public where the goal is to be the last man (or woman) standing. Avoiding cops along the way and the general public with their cellphones and tablets able to catch you on them it’s a game that’s more interesting by the issue.
Then about halfway through the issue Tom changes things up completely and throws the best shocking twist into this i’ve seen! No more on that you have to read it to find out what it is but suffice it to say there was no way on this planet I could’ve seen this coming!
Nathan’s black & white with gray toned interior artwork really elevate this series to a new version of horror/crime noir. His eye for storytelling combines those aspects so beautifully through the use of pages and panels. With great use of backgrounds and shading he can evoke emotions and light up your senses in these intense ways. All the while you still have this uncanny feeling of classiness back at the “casino.”
This is one of those series that while it was damn good the way it was going has just taken a turn into the twilight zone that makes it so much better. Who knew you could raise your own standard midstream when the bar was already set impossibly high? Expect the unexpected as the contestants race to fulfill their contracts and the games turned on it’s head!