Comic Review: Eat My Flesh Drink My Blood

Eat My Flesh Drink My Blood

Publisher: Dauntless Stories

Directed by: Frankee White & Adam Markiewicz

Cinematography: A.H.G.

One cool thing I learned how to do after getting into writing reviews is to be always alert for indie comic books up for review grabs across the web. A while ago I was able to find Evan Schultz and Lydia Roberts’ INTERDIMENSIONAL. And it was an outright gem. So I was very excited when I came across Frankee White’s tweet promoting their new horror comic.

The plot of EMFDMB follows Lisa, a young musician who’s engaged to Jonathan Johnson. They get a letter from Jonathan’s mother telling them it’s been recently discovered that his father has cancer. This is when we learn that Johnson hasn’t met his family in a decade. Lisa convinces him that they should go so everyone can get some closure in their estranged relationship. The main couple gets to Jonathan’s home town at 6 p.m. on June 6th (do you get it?) and start to notice weird signs that keep them on edge.

The credits for the comic make my job of giving out the kudos for the artwork and writing a bit difficult. A peculiar choice, but not the first time I saw this approach if I’m not mistaken. The comic’s panel structure could be a storyboard for a short film consisting of a single left-to-right panel (shots) at all times.

The writing for the comic is pretty engaging. It starts off at the climax’s location and we’re gradually exposed to what brought these characters together, how each of them feel about each other and how weird everything is for Lisa and Jonathan. It’s a nice build up towards the climax which contains Suspiria levels of gore. Despite not being an incredibly innovative premise, the reveal is nicely conveyed via dialogue, especially in the indifference of the antagonists’ lines.

The line art leans towards the realistic style and does so quite well. Although we don’t get that many action scenes, the anatomy is precise and the facial expressions do their job. What takes the spotlight however is the coloring. Throughout the issue, the environments and characters are colored so that they broadcast whatever Lisa is feeling but without deviating much from what could be a realistic lighting.

This comic is quite a fun read for fans of horror. However, I feel like it would’ve worked better in a short film format. I just couldn’t notice anything inherent of the comic medium in this. In fact the lack of a good actual soundtrack is disappointing since the protagonist is a musician and a lot could be broadcast through audio. In any case, I recommend the read for fans of horror because of the dialogue and the colors which are stunning.