Doomed #2 - IDW

So here we are, the last chance I''ll get to review Doomed(unless of course this blog generates some huge outpouring of support and IDW brings it back...could happen!).

The cover is by Jeremy Geddes, and kinda makes me a little queasy to look at it, which of course is the point. I'm definitely not a fan of the "gorno" genre; films featuring unflinching depictions of torture and mutilation, but I do like this cover because, like a lot of good horror, it's all implied. For all we know, this could be a gloss on the old "I don't know, Officer--he was like this when I found him!" bit.

We open with David J Schow's "Bagged" by Chris Ryall and Ashley Wood, about how a Society that is forced to accept vampires in their midst. But not everybody is so accepting(you know how people are). It's ghoulishly funny, and once again Ryall and Wood make a heck of a team. C'mon, DC--let's revive House of Mystery or something and hand it over to these two, ok?

Next is "Crickets", by Scott Tipton and Mike Hoffman, adapted from the Richard Matheson story. It's about a nice couple--Harold and Jean Galloway--that find themselves on vacation who meet a strange guy whose convinced the crickets are speaking the names of the dead. Well, this vacation is shot to hell! Some beautiful artwork by Hoffman--it looks a bit like the work Frank Frazetta did for the first issue of Creepy.

Third is "The Warm Farewell" by Dan Taylor and Alex Sanchez, adapted from a Robert Bloch tale. A bunch of Klu Klux Klan knuckleheads come to a small Southern town, and one of them at least gets their just desserts. I would imagine the Klan is only second to the Nazis as a group that's perfect to star in a horror tale--you never get a more satisfying feeling of comeuppance than when you see a bad guy like a Klan member really get it.

F.Paul Wilson's "Slasher" is next, featuring a great art job by Tony Salmons. A man is consumed by vengeance for his daughter's murderer, but lets it cloud his judgement until it's horribly much too late. Salmon's storytelling is tough and effective here--I'd love to see his guy do a whole book of crime thriller stories like this one.

We end with an interview with Wilson, and then Ms.Doomed bids us a fond farewell...or as fond as she gets.

Another solid issue, as good as the first. I think I read both these first two issues back to back, and I couldn't wait until the next one. Had I known it just going to be these four issues, I woulda paced myself.

Farewell, Doomed!