As with his Dark Horse book Where Monsters Lie, on the surface, Kyle Starks’ Image Comics book I Hate This Place is a simple mash-up. But also like with Where Monsters Lie, there’s a lot more going on in the series — which is actually titled the less safe-for-work F**k This Place.
Along with art by Artyom Topilin (and you know he’s good at art, it’s right there in the name), the book focuses on a couple named Trudy and Gabby who inherit a farmhouse. As one might expect with this sort of thing, there’s a nasty surprise waiting for them… Except the twist here is that it’s every nasty surprise.
There are shades of Cabin in the Woods with a generally annoyed and over it Lesbian couple in the place of horny teenagers. But thanks to the ghosts, aliens, monsters in the woods, and an over-arching story that morphs into something sad and poignant by the end, it transcends the “hey, isn’t this just like…” nature of this sort of story to become something special in and of itself.
Like a lot of Starks’ recent work, this includes his signature humor, but also leans into darker territory. Things get grim and gruesome by the end, with some truly hideous creations by Topilin. And the story also spins out into wild directions you would never suspect, making this the ultimate home invasion thriller.
But the heart of the book remains Trudy and Gabby, two perfectly sketched out characters both from the writing and art perspective. They might hate this place, but you will love this comic.
It’s spooky season, and you know what that means: time to curl up with a comic book or graphic novel that will scare your socks off. With that in mind, we’re posting a new horror book to check out every day of October, for our 31 Days Of Halloween Comics. Awoooo! Looking for the rest of our picks? Check them out on the Halloween tag.
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