Sirk TV Graphic Novel Review: FISSURE [Vault]

The aspect of 70s and, by extension, early 80s horror with some modern sensibility seems to be integrating a little bit into the modern culture currently. The metaphors that were prevalent then seem ingrained in the consciousness now but with a greater sense of informational overload. "Fissure" [Tim Daniel/Vault/112pgs] takes an aspect of body snatcher movies and mixes it with a sense of "Tremors" to create the story of a Texas town under attack. The divide is a large opening in the earth that doesn't discern between Texans and immigrants. This, of course, is the key intersecting part of the story which creates the tension early on despite an over inundation of would-be social relevance. At the heart of the story is Hark and his Hispanic girlfriend Avery Lee. The chemistry is doctrine but real (say if Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes played the parts) but is based in a texture that both are essentially good people. When the entire the town is seemingly swallowed up including Hark's dad, they must go into the pit to find what is lost. In the latter half of the book, the underground green texture has almost an oozy feeling of the end of "Aliens" with Hicks and Ripley but without the cool tech (plus Avery Lee is pregnant). Ultimately, say like "Monsters", escape is possible in one way but impossible in the other although the set up at the end is a little circumspect. Despite this, "Fissure" tries to tell a pertinent story yet tells it only adequately.

C

By Tim Wassberg