Cold BodiesCold Bodies Review: Denise Stokes is the sole survivor of a serial killer during a snowstorm years ago. The killer took the lives of her sister, best friend, and boyfriend. Now she is a writer, but a snowstorm is threatening New York and Denise begins experiencing flashbacks and events that seem all too real. This sinister story looks at the media's love for and popularization of murderers, with Denise having to relive the horror through the movies that were made from that fateful night. But, it also seems to imply that maybe Denise's new life is not all that it seems. The graphic novel weaves a sad story about the glorification of serial killers and the commodification of Denise's tragedy, that she no longer has a right to her own story. She also becomes an unreliable narrator very early on, as she begins having visceral memories of her trauma, which tend to bleed into her current life. The drawing style of this graphic novel left a little something to be desired. I liked the colouring, the dark hues and stark contrast of the red blood throughout. However, I felt that the illustrations lacked depth and clarity, making many characters seem too similar. The Me You Love in the DarkThe Me You Love in the Dark Review: Ro has fond her art inspiration to have become stagnant. Not knowing what to do, she decides to rent an old house that some have claimed to be haunted. It is there she meets her new muse, a strange presence that resides in the dark spots of the house. As their relationship progresses, Ro finds herself becoming more and more cut off from the rest of the world and ensnared by the dark creature she thought she loved. This story reads like the storyline of an abusive relationship, but with horror/body gore elements. This dark entity is controlling, isolating, angry, clingy, all while showering Ro with love and adoration. The only way for Ro to survive is to fight her way to freedom. The illustration style of this graphic novel really lends itself to the dark descent of Ro into this all consuming (almost literally) relationship. She begins with bright colours, light all around. However, as she immerses herself into this creatures pull, darkness begins to gather around her. Darker colours and more reds eek out the bright colours she used to experience. This was just such a well thought out story and art style. The Ojja-WojjaThe Ojja-Wojja Review: Val and Laurie have been best friends for years, but while Val is still obsessed with science fiction, Laurie has started to be more interested in magic and the occult. Val decides that, to spend more time with Laurie, she will need to do a special project involving both their passions, Ghosts! Only, something sinister is waking up and Bollingbroke is under its spell. The main focus of this book is on the power of friendship, the strengths within found families, and the ability to forgive bullies in order to help yourself heal. It also shows how someone who torments you may in fact be facing their own horrible truths, although that is no excuse to be awful. Val and Laurie are super supportive of each other and work hard to help those around them. Val and Laurie realize that there is power in realizing, even as they may be growing and developing interests that veer away from each other, they will always love and cherish their friendship. The illustrations were whimsical, even while dealing with some pretty grotesque body horror. It lent itself to the imagination of the girls and their friends. I also loved how their imaginations had a lot of brightness to them, while the parts of the novel with the evil entity were opposite to the girls (dark, rust coloured). SnapdragonSnapdragon Review: Snapdragon makes friends with Jacks, an elderly woman who recovers road kill to turn into bone statues to sell. Snap begins to question her own strangeness, who she truly is, and who she wants to be. Jacks helps Snap to find true power within herself, too allow her to confront those who want to hurt her, and to help those she loves. This was truly a wonderful story about friendship, acceptance, second chances, family, love, and magic. Snap and Jacks lives are interconnected in ways they had never imagined. Jacks listens to Snap, but she also realizes that she does not necessarily know all there is to witchcraft. It was also neat to see the way Jacks honours and respects the dead creatures she turns into statues. I loved the colour scheme in this graphic novel, it felt magical in itself. There are moments of darkness that feel like horror and grip you with fear, only later to reveal that truth is in the eye of the beholder. That maybe something you feared could actually have been something else entirely. While other parts of the novel are vibrant, the colours jumping off the page and lending movement to a still piece.
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