Comic Review: Infidel #5

Infidel #5

Image Comics

Writer: Pornsak Pichetshote

Artist: Aaron Campbell

A book titled Infidel is sure to turn some heads, especially in this time and age. The fact that it focuses mainly on a young Muslim woman is yet another brave, if not provocative, choice. Some might say it’s trying to be controversial for the sake of controversy. While it might stir up some emotions, especially when it gets more mainstream recognition (and it probably will), it is actually a surprisingly smart executed premise.

What’s it about?

The main crux of the story follows Aisha, a young Muslim woman, living with her husband, stepdaughter, and mother-in-law. They are living in an old apartment building which, prior to the event of the book, suffered a terrorist attack. This event, supposedly, left the building haunted, as the evil spirits slowly start to interfere with the residents’ lives. The last issue followed Medina, Aisha’s best friend, as she embarked on a mission to try and save Aisha’s life. It ended with the death of two characters and left us, the readers, once again puzzled with what the heck was happening. This issue ties up most of the loose ends in a terrifying and gruesome way but leaves just enough of it unresolved for the sake of intrigue. 

What’s good about it?

Throughout the whole run, the constant great thing was the art. Aaron Campbell’s realistic aesthetic works perfectly and makes the panels with the disjointed and grotesque entities all the more horrific. This issue features some of his best work since the first pages of this run. As we follow a bloodied Medina run through the building, we are offered some truly gruesome sights. These are further amplified by the faded, and at time distorted, coloring which adds a surreal note to the whole book, not just the entities.

The pacing of the book is also masterfully executed. Pornsak Pichetshote tackles a couple of different scenes and manages to tie them all together in a coherent whole. We are offered a look at the “terrorist attack” and the author doubles down on the idea of xenophobia fuelling the entities. The issue is a bit longer than the previous ones, but it makes sense considering that it is the finale.

Any problems?

I’ve got gripes with the characters. The reader will probably get familiar with the main cast of Aisha, Medina, Tom, and Kris, but that’s it. A lot of characters make an appearance in this final issue, but you have already forgotten you’ve ever seen them. Pichetshote, unfortunately, doesn’t do a good job at writing them. There is not much difference between characters – they mostly sound the same. This is an area he should definitely try to improve on, but considering this is his first work – hats down. 

Should you read it?

Going in, I wasn’t expecting much of this miniseries – it was a team I was not familiar with and the premise sounded as if it was just seeking controversy. But I was wrong. The team proved it was more than capable of doing a great horror story, while the topic ended up serving the book really well. Underneath that horror shell, the author tackles some serious topics – racism, religion, gender, self-doubt, and trust. It’s reminiscent, at times, of last year’s breakout movie Get Out by Jordan Peele. It is a book that I will gladly suggest to anyone, be they fans of horror or not. And the book got picked up for a movie after only two issues, so expect to hear more about it in the future.