Harvey Turnbolt: Monster Slayer

    (Poorboy, 2003)
™ and © Poorboy Comics

Shortly after a number of UFOs are spotted over the skies of Texas, inanimate objects mysteriously come to life with one sole purpose: to wreak havoc among the living. Imagine Chucky running amuck à la Night of The Living Dead in this series by Chris Pellicer and Raines Carr.

Like these low-dough cinematic cult faves, Harvey Turnbolt is best experienced by not taking it too seriously. It’s decently written and drawn, and the book’s paper-thin premise and comedic tone early on clearly show that the creators aren’t trying to create a masterpiece: merely something that can be laughed at and enjoyed. And, when hapless Harvey saves the town from a rampaging artificial dinosaur, the laughs are, indeed, aplenty.

But.

Toward the story’s end, the tone brutally shifts from dark humor to just plain dark. One extremely disturbing scene involving the town’s children betrays the established tone of the story. Where much of the grisly violence had taken place off-panel to that point, the results of that violence are inexplicably shown later on — in detail. With the turn of a page, the reader is asked — no, told — to take this comedy seriously. The transition is too wrenching and only serves as a major distraction. It’s like putting a rape scene in Star Wars.

The deplorable ending mars an otherwise enjoyable effort. Recommended for those who love shock value regardless of content (and context).

— Jim Johnson
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