Behemoth Entertainment 2021
Written by Massimo Rosi
Illustrated by Vito Coppola
After arriving to find the entire encampment is engulfed in flames, Adrian looks to find any survivors. Soon he’ll find one, but what’s left of him might have already been lost. And just outside of the encampment awaits the demon of the mountain, ready to pursue them at all costs.
I have to say that this issue is amazing for a myriad of reasons although that it is the final issue makes me incredibly sad. I mean the supernatural craziness that happened on this island to these soldiers defies any sense of logic and that we saw that giant spider like create emerge from that man’s body last issue really was one of the most horrific images I think I could have imagined seeing and of course that was just the beginning of the end as it burst out into the camp sending a flurry of activity everywhere. This sets up this issue beautifully and what we see here may not be what I was expecting to see but it is the logical conclusion that the story needs to have.
I absolutely love the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is exquisitely presented. The character development that we see is phenomenal thanks to how we see the narration, the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances they encounter. The pacing here is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story you feel as if you know where this is going to go but Massimo just says “hold my beer” as he takes us through another avenue. It’s a great thing to see too because being surprised as often as we are is what makes him so great.
I really appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. It is within these layers where the strong characterisation takes place as does the recounting of what was seen and why there is a ship called in for a rescue. These bits add so much depth and complexity to the story its amazing to see. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.
The interiors here are bloody mindbogglingly brilliant! The linework is exquisite and how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to bring about this level & quality in the attention to detail is astonishingly well rendered. Black & white is the hardest medium to work in and Vito makes it look like child’s play. The way that backgrounds are utilised throughout is genius and enhances the moments and it provides us with depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope of the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a masterful eye for storytelling. The creativity and imagination on display here is brilliantly rendered what with the bodies in the water and how we see the rescue team react to what they find on shore.
This works well because it’s set in a place where superstition, magic and the unknown play such huge roles in how the American soldiers see the world they’ve been thrust into. Even the locals find themselves at the mercy of legends and folklore come to life. They say war is hell but hell doesn’t hold a candle to what those on this island have found themselves in. This really has been a fresh new take on the horror genre that doesn’t rely upon the usual tropes and instead feels new and original. This is so expertly written and so stunningly illustrated and it shows that Massimo and Vito have long careers ahead of them and Behemoth is emerging as a force to be reckoned with.