Comic Review: To Hell You Ride #3 by Lance Henriksen

To Hell You Ride #3 (of 5) by Lance Henriksen

Writer: Lance Henriksen, Joseph Maddrey

Artist: Tom Mandrake

Colorist: Cris Peter

Cover Artist: Tom Mandrake
Genre: Action/Adventure, Horror
Publication Date: February 13, 2013

Dark Horse

Format: FC, 32 Pages

Price: $3.99

UPC: 7 61568 21220 4 00311
preview

Our drunken, haunted hero visits the scene of his grandfather's execution, recalling the stories that have cursed the land, while nearby the casual and the well-off bathe in blood.* Written by horror movie icon Lance Henriksen (Millennium,Aliens, Near Dark)!
* Body horror meets Native American curses!

There was a pretty nasty scene in the last issue involving a fella dying as a result of the cursed snow, but that pales compared to the hot tub scene that occurs in the first few pages of this third issue. Gross.

Things are pretty much in full-on panic mode in the little tourist town, as everyone has hopped in their vehicles and clogging the roads in a mass exodus. But things get even worse for them with black-clad gunmen picking people off from the mountainside as they try to get away.

While the horror and suspense are ramped up to full effect in this book, the protagonist is still flitting around the periphery of the action. All hell is breaking loose in this little mountain village and the hero is off soul-searching. Granted, it's not like there's a lot you can do to fight snow unless you're rocking the world's largest hairdryer and a strong disregard for the inevitable power bill. Still, all I've seen Two-Dogs do actionwise is punch out the mayor. 

It's a minor gripe really, since this five-part series is set for the home stretch now, and I'm anticipating one serious showdown given how the preamble has been so gruesome.

The back story, the mythos, the action, and the horror have added up to an entertaining series so far, but I think it's time for a convergence of these things, and I really hope To Hell You Ride #4 offers just that.

Reviews:

To Hell You Ride issue #1

To Hell You Ride issue #2

4 Sheep

Guest Reviewer: Gef Fox

Comic Review: To Hell You Ride #2 (5)

To Hell You Ride #2 
Writer: Lance Henriksen, Joseph Maddrey 

Artist: Tom Mandrake

Colorist: Cris Peter

Cover Artist:Tom Mandrake

Dark Horse

Genre: Horror
Publication Date: January 09, 2013

Format: FC, 32 pages

Price: $3.99

UPC: 7 61568 21220 4 00211

preview

The townsfolk’s chemical efforts to bring snow lead to a horrifying nightmare as mad science mixes with mother nature to release a curse buried for a hundred years in rock—the results will melt flesh from bones in the small Colorado town.

* Written by horror movie icon Lance Henriksen (Millennium,Aliens, Near Dark)!

"The Alchemy of Snow" begins with a glimpse at the tumultuous childhood of Two-Dogs, specifically the suicide of his father, then picks up where the first issue left off: with Two-Dogs in a jail cell.

After his drunken escapade from the night before, Two-Dogs is released by the town sheriff (incidentally the same man who cared for him as a boy after his father's suicide) to find the town being prepared for the ski season. But the town carries a five-year curse of no snow, which is pretty catastrophic for a resort town. So, the inimical mayor orchestrates a chemical experiment to bring snow, but what comes with the snow is something no one could have known--except maybe Two-Dogs.

The first issue of this series pulled me in, but this second issue hooked me. The stakes are coming into view and it's a little clearer what path Two-Dogs is being led on and it seems pretty clear he's going to have to make some tough choices, as far as the town and his own life are concerned. Mayor Cubby Boyer is a bit of a well-worn character, as the avarice politician, but the scene where Two-Dogs confronts him in his own special way after getting out of jail was too hilariously enjoyable.

With an even stronger blend of crime, fantasy, and horror, To Hell You Ride is quickly shaping up as a stand-out for 2013 in the eyes of his genre mutt. Hopefully, Henriksen, Maddrey, and Mandrake can keep the momentum going with this series. 

Also check out Gef's review of To Hell You Ride #1

4 1/2 stars

Guest reviewer: Gef Fox

Wag The Fox: a den for dark fiction

Comic Review: To Hell You Ride issue #1

To Hell You Ride #1 (of 5)

Writer: Lance Henriksen, Joseph Maddrey

Penciller: Tom Mandrake

Colorist: Cris Peter

Cover Artist: Tom Mandrake

Genre: Horror
Dark Horse

Publication Date:December 12, 2012

Format: FC, 32 pages

Preview

A deadly curse plagues a small town, melting the flesh from its victims--the violent revenge four warriors set in motion when their sacred burial grounds were disturbed for the sake of gold miners’ greed!

A new horror series written by Lance Henriksen (Millennium,Aliens, Near Dark) and Joseph Maddrey (Nightmares in Red,White and Blue: The Evolution of the American Horror Film), with art by Tom Mandrake.

* New horror series by Lance Henriksen!

Two words got me interested in this new five-part series: Lance Henriksen. I've enjoyed the heck out of his work in movies over the years, so I was keen to see what his own imagination had cooked up. 

"White Man's Guilt" is the title for this first issue and recounts the gold rush in the Colorado Rockies, with scores of white men tearing up the land to get at the ore, desecrating sacred burial grounds beneath their feet. I imagine Indians weren't too tickled to have a bunch of avarice goons trampling up the wilderness, but start pissing on their ancestor's graves and there's bound to be some comeuppance. 

It's a ritual of atonement that's performed, four braves each shoot an arrow into the air then race down the hillside and take the hit themselves. But when the white men see the braves racing into their encampment, they panic and shoot two of the them down before the arrows can do their work, and thus a curse is put upon the land.

Jump ahead to present day and a man with the nickname Two-Dogs whose cynicism and weariness are thrown for a loop when he finds one of the two missing arrows of legend. Still, in one of his drunken hazes, he manages to plow his old pickup right into a town memorial to those old white miners and earns himself a night in the drunk tank, talking to a sheriff that bares the slightest of resemblances to Lance Henriksen himself--go figure. 

The picture isn't totally clear with this story yet, not entirely sure what the stakes are with Two-Dogs finding that arrow, or what it might mean when the other is found, but the characters and folklore are depicted with all the grit and realism a reader could ask for. Mandrake's illustrations do well in capturing the feel of history and how it's dragged into the present, with a lot of really good work in contrasting light and darkness.

Henriksen and Maddrey have got something here with a lot of promise, and I'm definitely interested to see where it goes in the next issue.

4 Sheep

Guest Reviewer: 

Gef Fox -Wag The Fox: a den for dark fiction