front page  ·  comicbook reviews  ·  interviews  ·  comics  ·  merchandise  ·  columns  ·  contact  ·  newsfeed: rss xml  ·  links

Gene Simmons House of Horrors #1 Book Released: 18 Jul 2007 Posted 14 Aug 2007 Writer: Leah Moore, John Reppion, Tom Waltz, et al. Artist: Jeffrey Zornow, Esteve Polls, Steph Stamb, et al. Letters: N. Uyetake and R. Robbins Colors: Matt Busch, Robert Studio, German Torres, et al. Publisher: IDW Publishing  3.90 out of 5 Stars Reviewed by J. W. DeBolt Jr.

Gene Simmons has always been a comicbook fan—even before his historic venture with Marvel Comics in the 1970s to which he gave his blood. Now he has allied himself with IDW Publishing, publishers of Scarface: Devil in Disguise and Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between to give his sweat and tears to create a number of new titles: Gene Simmons House of Horrors, Gene Simmons Dominatrix, Gene Simmons Zipper, Nick Simmons Skullduggery and Gene Simmons Indy, Race of the Galaxies.

While he did not write any stories in the first book of the group, House of Horrors, Gene Simmons is the inspiration and creative director, and he wrote the intro and outro. The five graphic tales within were written by Leah Moore and John Reppion (Raise the Dead) Tom Waltz, Chris Ryall (Shaun of the Dead, Editor-in-Chief of IDW), Sean Taylor (A Private Little Corner of the Universe) and Dwight L. MacPherson. The artists: Jeffrey Zornow (Day of the Dead), Esteve Polls, Steph Stamb, John Alderink and Grant Bond. A prose piece by Nick Simmons, “The Child,” closes the set of tales in this issue.

“Into the Woods” bears little resemblance to its namesake musical by Stephen Sondheim beyond the woods and magic. A girl turns 13 and reflects upon her odd life, in which she was compelled to do “strange things” without knowing why. The village she lived in had walled itself off from the woods that they greatly feared. Her final act in the village betrays it to the terror in the woods. Knowledge of a Russian folk tale will help the reader make sense of this tale.

In “Crude,” the author takes us to a modern-day horror, the previous war in Iraq, Operation Desert Storm, where Saddam’s Republican Guard has set oil wells on fire during their retreat. I’ll just say that up until now, the horrors of war have not included what happens to these fighting men.

“Circle Seven” borrows its name from Dante, as scientists have discovered the entrance to the circles of hell. This is the most interesting of the first three stories. When the government offers him a deal that will set him up for life — for being the first volunteer to descend into hell — Dack jumps for it despite his wife’s misgivings. Suited up in a special survival costume, he begins his descent through the circles while reflecting on the nature of hell and his lack of faith. I like the irony that as he thinks of his humanity, his costume makes him look alien. The ending is somewhat expected, but the manner of its realization is original.

In “Nymph,” it’s Man versus Nature — and Nature fights dirty. This story pleasantly surprised me, as it developed and resolved itself opposite of the way one would expect in the contemporary fiction world. “The Basement” is often the imaginary play-land for children, but in this case, it may not be so imaginary. Beware of precocious children. As monsters-in-the-basement story goes, this is fairly original, too.

For the prose piece “The Child,” by Nick Simmons, I offer him his own “crawling ovation” (love that phrase). Perhaps the lack of graphics makes the horror of the story scarier, as one’s mind applies its own fears to the details. The story begins with a child born so hideous that humans cannot look upon it. This is a short morality tale that brings to mind some of the classic short SF stories of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s.

There’s a good balance of art styles in the book. Jeffrey Zornow’s art is dynamic and gruesome and the use of colors striking. Esteve Polls’ art in “Crude“ is not crude, but somewhat Kubert-esque (Joe, that is), with fine-line shading and mostly eye-level viewpoints with a couple of dramatic “crane shots“ thrown in. The muted colors by Robert Studio fit the military camo and desert content.

Steph Stamb’s work in “Circle Seven“ is new and different — or maybe retro. Large dot-pattern printing with watercolorish pencils give the story a dreamlike feel. Make that “nightmarelike.” The characters look spooky. The art for “Nymph“ is unremarkable, but modern, like Pia Guerra’s in Y: The Last Man, but more angular. Grant Bond’s work in “The Basement“ recalls art by Ted Naifeh or Ben Templesmith with a touch of The Goon’s Eric Powell.

Overall, I liked this issue and recommend it to readers. (However, I didn’t like the “horror-ble“ spelling of “Horrors“ on the front cover. I suppose a backwards “R“ is a horror to this proofreader-by-trade, but it’s trite.) Generally, these are similar to stories in Tales From the Crypt or House of Mystery. Will Gene Simmons step out as the new Cain or the new Cryptkeeper of the 21st century? We shall see. According to the Outro, the next ish is due in October. Expect the new titles soon, too: Gene Simmons Dominatrix, for adults only, Gene Simmons Zipper which looks existentially interesting, and Gene Simmons Indy, Race of the Galaxies, for general audiences.

 

[Read the previous review]

[Read the next review]