Anthological Chills: Death Head #1 Review

Death Head is a new horror comic series that follows several storylines, all revolving around something ominous. In this issue, we find a man and woman who find a sinister cabin in the woods, a girl in a nunnery struggling with teenage angst, and a young boy forced to confront a scary story up close. All of varying shades of horror, and they each work differently to set up what is coming in the series.

I think the story of the man and woman is the most entertaining, and the one which I have the most interest in. It was ominous and fitting for the premise. The one in the nunnery is one which I think will get better as it spent its portion here boringly setting up what it is all about. Some panels in the comic are tonally brilliant and work very well to establish an uncomfortable atmosphere. However, most of the comic is very hit and miss.

The artwork in the comic is very basic and nothing special. One or two panels are very euphoric and utilize the artwork very well. Aside from these instances, there is nothing to really speak of here. It’s not unique or innovative. It works, but it’s not memorable.

The actual dialogue and events in the comic are pretty basic. They complement the style of the comic but they don’t stand out as innovative or anything more than entertaining and generic. I think that, like most first issues, it spends the majority of the comic dealing with exposition and setting up characters instead of dealing with the focus of the series. This applies especially to the nun story which spent all of its time building up characters and contexts.

I’ve found this comic incredibly difficult to review because there is no real spark about it. It’s generic and doesn’t do a lot worth talking about. I really hope it picks up in the next few issues because I think it just needs a little more. Not much of interest happens and there are only really a couple of panels worth remembering and raving about. Most of it somewhat plays on tropes but doesn’t rise above them in a similar way that The Cabin In The Woods did. While that film was smart and scary, this comic is just generic and mildly enjoyable. I didn’t hate it, it just didn’t bring much new to the table. I enjoy anthologies a lot though so I’m interested to see how it develops.