HOB’S LANE #1, from Blue Fox Comics and Kickstarter in December 2021, puts a detective on the trail of a savage killer who tears victims apart. Is there a connection between the latest killing and an old friend suffering from grief?
The Details
- Written By: Martin Hayes
- Art By: R.H. Stewart
- Colors By: R.H. Stewart
- Letters By: Paul McLaren
- Cover Art By: R.H. Stewart
- Cover Price: $1 (deluxe pdf)
- Release Date: December 2021 (estimated)
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Was It Good?
Blue Fox Comics is one of the only comics publishers on the market who isn’t afraid (no pun intended) to borrow elements and themes from Lovecraftian horror. Sometimes their comics are direct adaptations. Other times, the tone and vibe echo what Lovecraft instilled in his writings even when there’s no explicit connection to the author’s works. HOB’S LANE #1 is the latter.
The key that comes across in this first issue is the quintessential sense of sickly horror so prevalent in Lovecraft’s works. That feeling mind and body are under assault by an infestation from a presence and location not of this earthly realm. In this case, that feeling comes by way of a shockingly gory murder and a man who may or may not be connected to the murder but who has body-distorting issues plaguing him. This issue will disturb you as well as any horror comic should.
To be clear, the issue isn’t all about shock and that’s why it works so well. The human interactions between friends reconnecting after losing touch feel surprisingly organic and natural. The creators put supreme effort into creating natural-sounding dialog, grounding the personal interactions with plenty of authenticities. The gore, when it comes, feels so far out of left field in contrast to the grounded human interactions that it disturbs further than the visuals alone. That’s good planning and storytelling when you make normal scenes as realistically normal as possible so that the extraordinary scenes feel more so.
The art from R.H. Stewart is a pleasant surprise. We’re familiar with Stewart’s work from previous Blue Fox comics we’ve reviewed, and it seems Stewart has improved considerably, particularly in the use of hatch shading and mood coloring. If you compare the art here to something from the Big 2, it’s not on the same level in fairness, but any gaps in technical precision are made up for in tone and creepy mood.
Keep scrolling for a closer look at the covers, or Click Here to jump right to the story description with some spoilers.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
We begin with a couple parting ways outside their flat as the young man leaves for work. Spotting a (presumed) homeless man asleep on the sidewalk, the young man tries to rouse the sleeper to get him to shelter on a freezing night. When he turns the man over, he quickly finds the sleeper will never wake again.
Later, the police arrive to examine the gory scene. The detective on the scene, Doug, oversees the investigation efforts when he spots a familiar face peering through a window across the street. The neighbor, John, is a friend Doug lost contact with recently after John’s wife was killed in a mugging. Doug offers a sympathetic ear, but John is too grief-stricken to be hospitable.
We conclude the issue with John’s troubling dreams and his more troubling intestinal distress.
Final Thoughts
HOB’S LANE #1 begins a horror story that borrows body horror elements from the best of Lovecraft and Cronenberg to tell a tale about murder, grief, and pain. The authentic dialog is top-notch, and the art is some of the best we’ve seen from Stewart. This first issue will hook you almost immediately.
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