Sirk TV Graphic Novel Review: REBEL BLOOD [Image]

The idea of existing outside the manevolence of one's mind when life is pulling you psychologically another way is a basis of psychosis that has encompassed many stories of unhinged soldiers who find themselves in odd worlds they don't understand when they come back home. Chuck, the narrative center of "Rebel Blood" [Alex Link & Riley Rossmo/Image/128pgs], becomes lost in his own mind as his life including the job he has, his wife and kids and his general sense of melancholy overcomes his sense of reality. As a firefighter who is sent ot task to watch for forest fires, the eyes would definitely play tricks on the mind. For Chuck, like Jack Torrance in "The Shining", the aspect of isolation plays as more a symptom of the problem than the actual cause. The ghoulish aspects of his imagination seemingly just begin on his periphery of his vision before interacting with him in a more meaningful way, With the advent of zombie lore, the necessary invention is not exactly the most original so making the progression an abject perception in Chuck's mind works on a more visceral level since his mind is making it up (most likely). The level of gore is parallel to the state of his mind so it keeps moving down the rabbit hole with alarming pace. The trigger moment to the fact that it is all in his mind is when his ex-wife changes since he was holding out hope in his mind of her redemption. From that point on, only his children are his safe haven. Like Rambo in a certain way, the post traumatic element is what creates the illusion. The boils, especially on the women and rats are extremely grostesque adding to this perception. Although not for the average reader because of its extremeness and mental as well as physical gore, it gives an insight into the paranoia that fuels people who crack of the edge.B-