Adrian F. Wassel

I accepted a review copy of graphic novel, Human Remains through Rockstar Book Tours. It’s by Peter Milligan (Author), Adrian F. Wassel (Editor), Sally Cantirino (Illustrator), Dearbhla Kelly (Colorist), and Andworld Design (Letterer) and has also been featured over on Sadie’s Spotlight.,

Live. Laugh. Love. Scream.
DIE.
Dax and Bisa love each other. But in this new and terrifying world, love is dangerous. Feeling anything is dangerous. Love. Hate. Joy. Fear. Any of these in strong doses will bring a swift death. Earth has a new and terrible invader—monsters that smell the scent of emotion, salivate over the prey, and hunt the very feelings that make us human. A shocking tale of pent-up emotions and forced composure in the face of unspeakable horror…

It took me a little while to digest Human Remains. I finished with a feeling of, “Welp, that’s a thing I’ve read now.” I don’t know that I could have even said if it all came around to a salient point or not. However, as I sat on the experience a little while and thought on it, I decided that it did. (Of course it did.)

It’s gory and touches on any number of heavy, trauma-inducing subjects. (I think a trigger warning wouldn’t be out of place for this one.) But watching as the characters slowly move from shocked and horrified to numb and blasé in the face of countless deaths is poignant. (Can I say a book with roughly 2 million panels of humans being violently dismembered was poignant?) But what does it mean to be human, how much will we give up to remain human, how much can we change and still be human are all important and thought-provoking questions this graphic novel seeks to answer.

I did think it took a long time to come around to those points and a few of the devices used to make them were a little ham-handed. But all in all I’ll call this one a success.

Other Reviews:

Mallory Books: Human Remains

I accepted a review copy of The Rush, by Si Spurrier (Author), Addison Duke (Colorist), Nathan C. Gooden (Illustrations), Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (Letterer), Adrian F. Wassel (Editor). It was also featured over on Sadie’s Spotlight. So, you can hop over there for further information on the author and illustrator(s), the tour schedule, a guest post, and a chance to win a copy of your own.

ALL THAT GLITTERS IS NOT GOLD.
ALL THAT HUNGERS IS NOT HOLY.
ALL THAT LIVE ARE NOT ALIVE.

This Hungry Earth Reddens Under Snowclad Hills.

1899, Yukon Territory. A frozen frontier, bloodied and bruised by the last
great Gold Rush. But in the lawless wastes to the North, something whispers in
the hindbrains of men, drawing them to a blighted valley, where giant
spidertracks mark the snow and impossible guns roar in the night.

To Brokehoof, where gold and blood are mined alike. Now, stumbling towards its
haunted forests comes a woman gripped not by greed — but the snarling rage of
a mother in search of her child…

I’ll admit that in the beginning of this graphic novel, I wasn’t certain I’d like it. I liked the art from page one. But the plot and letter-writing narrative style took me a little bit longer to come around to. But by the end, I was fully invested and enjoyed it. Nettie was just the kind of bronze-balled bitch with a mission that I appreciate. There’s symbolism, sacrifice, and a moral to the story.

Admittedly, the obsessive love of a mother for her son is a little cliched as a plot device, and I might have liked to understand a bit more of the hows, whys, and what nows of the whole situation. But I don’t know that there would have been an elegant way to include it. So, I can’t really complain on that front. All in all, I’d be happy to read more by this team.