Crossed
Issue: #1
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Jacen Burrows
32 pp. Avatar Press. $3.99
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
"They made him eat his eyes. Then they started in on him for real. And I was glad, because he never got a chance to tell them I was in a ditch not twenty feet away." - "Crossed"
If explicit and graphic zombie-type violence puts you in a happy place (it's okay to admit it, we're not judging you...much), then grab a copy of the first issue of Avatar Press' new series "Crossed" because bliss awaits. Featuring the type of mature content that will set off fire alarms in your head because your retinas will be burning, the first issue is a disturbing bit of hack-and-slash, a gruesome descendant of zombie movies in which the majority of the infected human population preys on the uninfected.
"Crossed" is not a zombie story per se though, as these are not the living dead causing havoc. Instead the infected here act like rabid animals, mutilating, raping and killing the uninfected. Survivors must huddle together for safety in this mysterious post-apocalyptic world, fleeing at a moment's notice from an onslaught of infected. They are the hunted and have no way to fight back (though one survivor offers a hypothesis about the destructive powers of table salt on the infected that is quite humorous.)
"Crossed" is being marketed by Avatar as "the most depraved and corrupt book of the year." While this claim is arguably legitimate, there's also a banality that underlies things that intentionally try to be incredibly shocking. In the end, one becomes desensitized to the depravity. The most shocking things to readers aren't the things that are shown, rather they are the things the reader imagines for themselves. "Crossed" unfortunately leaves no room for the imagination.
I've been a fan of the previous work of writer Garth Ennis, but this issue is a bit of a letdown. The nature of the comic really doesn't allow his true writing talent to shine through. Instead, he's trying too hard to be shocking to the detriment of telling an interesting story, resulting in average work at best in this issue.
Jacen Burrows handles the artistic chores and he does an admirable job. No one draws maniacal quite like him, which is incredibly effective in making the infected appear so terrifying in the story. And this is what makes the comic so disappointing and frustrating, because we anticipate more creativity from Ennis and Burrows than this issue delivers. Sadly "Crossed" just feels below them.
Final Grade: 65 out of 100
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