Comic Review: Chained to the Grave #1

Chained to the Grave #1

IDW Publishing

Writer: Andrew Eschenbach & Brian Level

Artist: Kate Sherron

Chained to the Grave, the newest series from IDW has just released its first issue. The story revolves around Roy Mason, a cowboy who was murdered over stolen gold that he’d hidden. At the start of the issue, Roy is revived, albeit chained to his headstone. After promptly reuniting with his family he ends up going on the run with them. The man responsible for his death has learned of his revival and wants to find out where the gold is. It’s a simple yet effective story about a man trying to escape villains from his past.

The thing that makes this comic interesting though is the surreal humour throughout. One example of this is early on in the issue. Roy returns home with a gaping gunshot wound in his skull and his wife reacts as if nothing’s wrong. Despite being a decomposing zombie with half of his head missing she even tries to initiate sex with him. Their children interrupt that but they too act as if nothing’s wrong with the attempted necrophilia or their zombie dad. It’s weirdly hilarious how easily the characters adapt to this situation. It also makes you wonder if they even see Roy the way we do. They may simply see their husband and father as he was in life. It helps make the comic enjoyable, not only through the humour but it makes you curious and prompts questions. As a new series, getting your readers curious is vital for developing interest and this issue does that well.

The artwork is good too. Kate Sherron goes for a cartoonish art-style that contrasts well with the somewhat dark story and surreal humour. One of the things I enjoyed about the artwork is how colour is used to highlight things. An example of this is Roy’s suit. Initially, it’s coloured red to contrast with his dark surroundings as he digs his way out of his grave. Lightning strikes on the next page and lights up the background as Roy emerges from the grave. As a result, the suit turns brown to keep a contrast with the brighter colours behind Roy. This happens constantly throughout the comic and it’s great for keeping focus and setting the mood for each panel.

One more nice little artistic touch is how distance and detail are shown. Sherron draws the characters as if each panel is a shot from a camera. The characters in the foreground, nearest the lens are shown in full detail. Characters in the background are shown with a level of reduced detail. The level of detail depends on how far they are from the focal point of the image. Sometimes this even has the effect of making them resemble Tintin characters. All comics do this to a degree, usually when showing large crowds. It’s rare to see it done consistently throughout an entire book with every character though and very impressive.

The lettering is done well. There’s a good use of onomatopoeia throughout the issue that makes it easier to get into the action. Bold dialogue is used to make it clear when a character is raising their voice. Roy has darker outlines on his speech bubbles and different colored dialogue to the living characters. It’s a good way to make him stand out when he speaks. This also emphasizes the idea of his voice being damaged which is mentioned shortly after his resurrection.

This debut issue of Chained to the Grave was a simple but well-written and enjoyable comic. Some readers may not be into the surreal aspects or the dramatic shifts in color though. If you’re open to giving the book a try though, you’ll find a good, fun western with supernatural aspects. The book is well worth reading, the art is great and I’d recommend giving it a go.

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