Welcome to Hoxford
Issue: #4
Writer: Ben Templesmith
Artist: Ben Templesmith
32 pp. IDW Publishing. $3.99
Reviewed by Paul Stotts
“I was one of you when I was born. I understand…it’s all so clear now. This is my…destiny.”—Ben Templesmith, Welcome to Hoxford #4
Prison is a terrifying place. Inmates cope with horrors like the lack of freedom, violence and sexual assault. Adding bloodthirsty werewolves roaming the halls looking to make you an after-lights-out snack brings the horror of prison to a whole new level. Prison is bad enough without being a hot meal for an overgrown doggie. That’s one parole board any inmate would want to avoid.
Ben Templesmith’s ultra-creepy and cool horror comic series Welcome to Hoxford has been a gruesome mosaic of blood, werewolves and degenerate serial killers. It’s also been a warped reimagining of the penal system as exposing an individual’s vulnerability. Even the worse serial killer imaginable is vulnerable in a jail cell. No matter how much of a monster an inmate is, there’s always a bigger monster out there, something darker and even more dangerous. Maybe it’s their own evil threatening their soul and sanity while chomping away at their humanity. In Hoxford, the ones doing the chomping though are the werewolves. And Raymond Delgado.
In the concluding issue of the series, Raymond and the other prison survivors continue their battle against the werewolves hunting them through the corridors of Hoxford. But where the other survivors wish to escape the prison, Raymond desires a confrontation with the beasts, and an opportunity to test himself.
After looking rushed in the previous two issues, Templesmith’s interiors return to form in the final issue. The werewolves in particular are stunning. Templesmith’s relish for his canine creations is obvious in the detail and nuance he gives to them.
Templesmith’s unique storytelling which seemingly disappeared in the previous issue also comes back in full force in this issue. What I thought would be a straightforward conclusion took an unexpected twist at the end that caught me by surprise. If anything this new development made the issue even creepier, and definitely more satisfying.
An excellent conclusion solidified Welcome to Hoxford as one of the best horror reads of the year.
Final Grade: 88 out of 100
Related Posts:
Comic Break: Welcome to Hoxford #1 (IDW Publishing)
Comic Break: Welcome to Hoxford #2 (IDW Publishing)
Comic Break: Welcome to Hoxford #3 (IDW Publishing)
0 comments:
Post a Comment