She’s dead, Jim.
Christie Shinn and Hora Tora Studios bring us an interesting and curious new property in Sepulchre. The official synopsis reads like any revenge tale, promising blood and justice in equal amounts, the slaying of all who oppose the will of the wronged, but this first issue seems so much more than that – something deeper and eminently more meaningful. This seems to be an exercise in absolute faith in a creator’s material, being more atmospheric than directly engaging; it’s fun to see how the images on the page transform in your mind.
There’s not much dialogue in this issue. In fact, only one character speaks, and it makes it sound like the lone voice in a wilderness of silence. Not a passive silence either – something alive and actively pushing away all noise, the quiet of a graveyard or a snowy night, where there’s a pressure to keep the stillness whole, and woe be to those that ignore it. The sounds that Shinn gives us on the page are manifest and deafening, translating directly to us in a very personal way.
Everything in this book is about the art; it’s ephemeral and alive. The difference between typical revenge tales and this book is made crystal clear, because everything feels incredibly intimate. It feels like a western, willing to give long shots on a moment, and when things move, they do so with incredible swiftness, even thoughyou still feel locked in time through every awful (for the character) moment. There’s not a lot of work out there that can make me lose a sense of time, that can draw me into such a tragic pace with such eloquence and convey such betrayal and loss in so short a space. This is the kind of work you can’t rush through; it will give you its secrets on its terms in a very personal and lonely way.
This is a great read for anyone who’s a fan of atmospheric storytelling like Samurai Jack or the light, but insistent, touch of Ori and the Blind Forest. You won’t be able to soon forget this book when you finish, that I promise you.
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