BELLE: FROM BEYOND, from Zenescope Entertainment on March 22nd, 2023, follows Belle as a call from Graham and CHIP leads to a deadly force infiltrating our world through a machine that never should have been built.
The Details
- Written by: Dave Franchini
- Art by: Rodrigo Xavier
- Colors by: Juan Manuel Rodriguez
- Letters by: Taylor Esposito
- Cover art by: Brandon Peterson (cover A)
- Comic Rating: Teen+
- Cover price: $5.99
- Release date: March 22, 2023
Is It Good?
BELLE: FROM BEYOND takes a page out of H.P. Lovecraft’s creepy story about a machine that bridges the gap between our world and a dimension where insanity and deadly monsters thrive. This time, the unwitting creators are CHIP instead of Crawford Tillinghast, but the interdimensional threats are no less savage.
Dave Franchini’s script ticks all the right boxes for what you’ve come to expect from a Belle comic. There’s plenty of blade-swinging action, a dangerous threat more powerful than Belle, (mostly) witty banter and a profuse amount of inner monologuing by Belle. From every angle, this is a rock-solid Belle comic.
The highlight of Franchini’s script is the seamless integration between Belle’s world and the Lovecraft story. It doesn’t feel like Franchini is retelling From Beyond with Belle acting as another character, and the Interdimensional threats don’t feel out of place. The setup work to tell a different version of From Beyond that feels natural to the Zenescope world.
The minor down point of the issue is the predictability of the story. You know Belle’s going to face the threat and win. It’s not fair to call the issue generic, but it certainly lacks any surprises or status quo changes.
The art from Xavier and Rodriguez is excellent. The character designs for the monsters are suitably Lovecraftian, the fight scenes are choreographed well, and Rodriguez’s coloring application is spot-on.
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What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with Belle coming home after a long night of patrolling to find a garbled distress call from Graham at a CHIP facility. Something is attacking the CHIP personnel and driving them insane before devouring them. Graham sends a portal device to get Belle to the facility in a hurry.
When Belle arrives, she finds most of the crew gone or ripped to shreds. When she finds one worker barely alive, she’s stopped from rescuing him by the sudden appearance of Rose. Rose warns Belle the worker is bait for something monstrous, and Rose is quickly proven right.
Later, Rose and Belle find Graham, who explains the monsters, and a mysterious figure called the Faceless Woman, appeared out of thin air after CHIP activated a machine they built from instructions delivered on an otherwordly transmission. We conclude the issue with insanity stares, multiplying monsters, and painful jokes.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at preview images of the internal pages, or Click Here to jump right to the score.
Final Thoughts
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BELLE: FROM BEYOND ticks all the right boxes for a predictably solid Belle adventure that seamlessly blends the Zenescope universe with Lovecraftian lore. The monster designs are creative, the action is well done, and the art looks great.
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