Silent Hill: Dying Inside

    (IDW, 2004)
™ and © 2004 Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo, Inc.

Publishers like IDW and Dark Horse have undertaken a risky but commendable crusade bringing horror as a genre back to the comics industry. But, as every comics fan knows, even the freshest ideas get stale after a while, as exemplified by this book. This psychological chiller, based on the popular Konami videogame, isn’t bad. Ciencin delivers a fairly taut and suspenseful intro to the series. But the most pervasive feeling that it elicits is one of overwhelming… sameness.

Like many other writers, Ciencin likes to challenge readers to put events together as they are introduced without explanations. But amid a glut of first issues that ask for or demand (intentionally or not) the same degree of attention, Ciencin fails to sell readers on why that kind of effort should be devoted to this mini-series. And Templesmith’s typically and wonderfully creepy art only magnifies this. It looks no different from his work on Dark Days or Criminal Macabre. While perfectly suited to such a title, Templesmith’s non-evolving style and rigid adherence to the same, unchanging look only compound this book’s lack of identity.


Understand: It’s a good horror comic. But it’s only one more good horror comic among many.

— Jim Johnson
Jump to issue:
  NotesWriterArtist
#4

April, 2004
Cover Price: $3.99
1 copy available for $5.53 		Scott Ciencin, Shikhar Dixit, John R. PlattAadi Salman
#5

June, 2004
Cover Price: $3.99
1 copy available for $10.00 		Scott CiencinAadi Salman