Desert Rose

    (Aberrant)
™ and © Gilbert Cuevas

Moviegoers will likely recall a pair of psychologically thrilling independent films: The Blair Witch Project, which put the fear back into getting lost in the woods, and the more recent Open Water, which essentially does the same for being stranded in the open seas. With Desert Rose, Cuevas might have produced a similarly suspenseful film. The environment this time? The northern Mexican desert.

Yes, this is just a comic book for the time being. But it’s a comic book based on Cuevas’ storyboards for his own upcoming indy film, which he hopes to have floating through the indy circuit sometime next year. And it’s an intense adventure about a lone man crossing the desert on foot with hopes of making it into the U.S. But an encounter with an immigration official turns this story from a mere grueling trek into a thriller.

Eventual film or not, this is an excellent character study of a man caught up in events he couldn’t have imagined. Although this comic may be a little tough to find, it’s simply too good not to seek out.

— Jim Johnson
Jump to issue:
  NotesWriterArtist