Review - The Abortion

Horror comics are somewhat a relic of a different time in comics. Extremely pervasive in the time of Frederic Wertham, the idea of a comic being about something other than capes, superpowers and world wars is an almost antiquated comic theme. Writer Jamie McMorrow and artist Garry McLaughlin are looking to buck that trend with their one-shot The Abortion, the first in a series of horror one-shots planned by the duo. As you can imagine the book deals with a pretty explosive topic, but the pair actually have an interest concept on their hands. The first thing you notice when reading the comic is that it's speechless. No, the theme of the work won't make you speechless (it might depending on your position relative to the center). It doesn't have any dialogue and instead relies on the illustrations to carry the story. And it's quite a story. It centers on a young couple currently parents to one child with another on the way. As the title indicates, the couple get an abortion and think their life is better for it. Not so fast. The horror isn't in the abortion; rather, the vengeful fetus that was "aborted." The fetus plans to extract revenge on both parents and sends them to relatively untimely deaths (in creative ways I might add). The actual story is pretty intriguing, despite the lack of actual dialogue between the main characters. The art is chilling in a sense and their conception of the fetus is essentially a sperm with arms. I like (maybe "like" is the wrong word, but I think you get the gist) their idea of an aborted fetus seeking to get revenge on their parents for their actions. I don't know if I would really call this a "horror" comic as, with a topic like abortion, it's one of those things that you can't really be horrified of. It is refreshing though to see a horror work that doesn't involve vampires, werewolves or zombies, so of course I applaud ingenuity when it comes to comics. You can pick the book up at their Lulu site and check out their website for the comic here. It's only $1.87 if you get a print copy and free to download, so you don't really have anything to lose there. McMorrow and McLaughlin intend to do a series of one-shot horror comics, so don't expect The Abortion to become an ongoing series. What you can expect though is new works that are somewhat thought-provoking and will likely challenge preconceived notions about various topics. Unless of course they're planning to do a work about vampires, werewolves or zombies, in which case I've got nothing.

Comments

  1. This is a great little comic man.
    Chris.

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  2. Yeah it's always refreshing to see new stuff like this. Creepy in an unconventional sense. A little unsettling even.

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