She sees dead people. I don’t want to see dead people. Please don’t make me see dead people!
The Veil #1
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: El Torres
Artist: Gabriel Hernandez
Cover(s): Ashley Wood, Gabriel Hernandez
Summary: Chris Luna is a cheap private eye, and her customers are the dead. Sometimes, she can see through The Veil between our realm and the unknown beyond. But that’s not enough to earn a living, and now completely broke, she has to come back home to Maine… and to face the darkness that lurks beneath the surface of her quiet hometown.
Review: In this tough economy you take work where you can get it right? One can’t be very picky when it comes to being able to pay the rent but I have to admit - if making a living meant talking to creepy dead people every day, I might just be out on the street.
The Veil is a four issue horror miniseries from writer El Torres (Zombies!: Eclipse of the Undead) and artist Gabriel Hernandez (Clive Barker’s The Thief of Always). The main character, Chris Luna, can speak to the dead and she’s made a meager living out of it by becoming a private eye. She’s kind of like Batman in a way - the cops work with her because she gets the job done but everyone thinks she’s a complete weirdo. It doesn’t always work out for Chris though considering her clients can only pay her if they stick around long enough to let her know where some forgotten savings are. As you can imagine, she gets stiffed by the stiffs a lot.
A lot of information is thrown at us in this first issue but surprisingly it’s delivered at a comfortable pace. Rather than feeling like an information dump it immerses you quickly into Chris’s life and predicament. She’s got her old shrink after her to come in for another visit, her Aunt Emma recently passed away and her roommate is a dead guy who can’t help with the rent. Figures. Luckily Aunt Emma has left the old family house in Maine solely to Chris. What starts out as a trip to tie up loose ends quickly turns into a flood of bad memories (including a horrific train accident which might be the source of Chris’s special abilities) she would rather forget. Unfortunately the little town of Crooksville won’t let her and neither will Aunt Emma. Turns out she didn’t die peacefully in her sleep.
I don’t read a lot of horror comics but I don’t think I’ve ever actually been scared by one either. Until now. (Page 17, last panel!) One minute everything’s normal, the next? Screaming, blood soaked corpses. It’s just as shocking for the reader to catch a glimpse of these people as it is for Chris. You never know when one is going to show up and neither does Chris (“Oh f*ck. You’re dead.) Don’t even get my started on who or what the Slug Man might be but when things turn red – run! Hernandez’s art is perfectly suited for Torres’ chilling tale. Chris looks suitably grumpy considering the situation she’s in and her deceased associates speak to every kind of horror they’ve witnessed. Except Aunt Emma. She just wants to bake cookies.
The Veil #1 from IDW is in stores now.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
“She’s kind of like Batman in a way - the cops work with her because she gets the job done but everyone thinks she’s a complete weirdo.”
I don’t think Batman’s a complete weirdo!
Hahahah it’s actually called Crookstown? That’s just funny.
Arkham Asylum (the GN) scared me! But The Veil looks pretty, and I like horror, so I’m going to read it.
June 29th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
I thought about picking it up but I’m reading too much! It sounds like it’d be perfect for fans of Anita Blake and Locke & Key.
June 29th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Haha, no of course YOU don’t Steph. Just the Gotham police.