What do you think?
Rate this book
Echoes #1-5
Echoes Vol. 1
An alternate cover edition exists here.
From acclaimed author Joshua Hale Fialkov (Tumor, Pilot Season: Alibi) and rising artist Rahsan Ekedal (Creepy) a disturbing story of murder and mystery wrapped in questions of sanity. Minotaur Press premieres with a story of madness, family and death. Brian Cohn was learning to deal with the schizophrenia inherited from his father. Supportive wife, new baby on the way, drugs to control the voices. But, when on his father's deathbed he learns that he also inherited the trophies of his father's career as a serial killer, will his madness send him further down into the crawlspace of his father's mind?
From acclaimed author Joshua Hale Fialkov (Tumor, Pilot Season: Alibi) and rising artist Rahsan Ekedal (Creepy) a disturbing story of murder and mystery wrapped in questions of sanity. Minotaur Press premieres with a story of madness, family and death. Brian Cohn was learning to deal with the schizophrenia inherited from his father. Supportive wife, new baby on the way, drugs to control the voices. But, when on his father's deathbed he learns that he also inherited the trophies of his father's career as a serial killer, will his madness send him further down into the crawlspace of his father's mind?
144 pages, Hardcover
First published July 5, 2011
2 people are currently reading
666 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Hale Fialkov
444 books141 followersJoshua Hale Fialkov is the creator (or co-creator, depending) of graphic novels, including the Harvey Nominated Elk’s Run, the Harvey and Eisner nominated Tumor, Punks the Comic, and the Harvey Nominated Echoes.
He has written Alibi and Cyblade for Top Cow, Superman/Batman for DC Comics, Rampaging Wolverine for Marvel, and Friday the 13th for Wildstorm. He’s writing the DC relaunch of I,Vampire, as well as debuting the new Marvel character The Monkey King. This fall sees the launch of The Last of the Greats from Image Comics with artist Brent Peeples.
He also served as a writer on the Emmy Award Nominated animated film Afro Samurai: Resurrection, and as Executive Producer of the cult hit LG15: The Resistance web series.
Elk’s Run, Tumor, and Alibi are all currently in development as feature films. He has written comics for companies including Marvel, Wildstorm, IDW, Dark Horse, Image, Tor Books, Seven Seas Entertainment, Del Rey, Random House, Dabel Brothers Productions, and St. Martin’s Press. He has done video game work for THQ, Midway Entertainment, and Gore Verbinski’s Blind Wink Productions. He also wrote a Sci-Fi Channel movie starring Isabella Rossellini and Judd Nelson. Unfortunately, at no point in the film does Judd Nelson punch the sky and freeze frame. Joshua grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, went to college in Boston, where he got a BFA in writing and directing for the stage and screen, and then worked in the New England film industry, until finally deciding to move to Los Angeles to do it properly. He lives with his wife, Christina, daughter, Gable, and their cats, Smokey and the Bandit.
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/joshfialkov
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joshuahalefia...
Photograph by Heidi Ryder Photography
He has written Alibi and Cyblade for Top Cow, Superman/Batman for DC Comics, Rampaging Wolverine for Marvel, and Friday the 13th for Wildstorm. He’s writing the DC relaunch of I,Vampire, as well as debuting the new Marvel character The Monkey King. This fall sees the launch of The Last of the Greats from Image Comics with artist Brent Peeples.
He also served as a writer on the Emmy Award Nominated animated film Afro Samurai: Resurrection, and as Executive Producer of the cult hit LG15: The Resistance web series.
Elk’s Run, Tumor, and Alibi are all currently in development as feature films. He has written comics for companies including Marvel, Wildstorm, IDW, Dark Horse, Image, Tor Books, Seven Seas Entertainment, Del Rey, Random House, Dabel Brothers Productions, and St. Martin’s Press. He has done video game work for THQ, Midway Entertainment, and Gore Verbinski’s Blind Wink Productions. He also wrote a Sci-Fi Channel movie starring Isabella Rossellini and Judd Nelson. Unfortunately, at no point in the film does Judd Nelson punch the sky and freeze frame. Joshua grew up in Pittsburgh, PA, went to college in Boston, where he got a BFA in writing and directing for the stage and screen, and then worked in the New England film industry, until finally deciding to move to Los Angeles to do it properly. He lives with his wife, Christina, daughter, Gable, and their cats, Smokey and the Bandit.
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/joshfialkov
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/joshuahalefia...
Photograph by Heidi Ryder Photography
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
October 11, 2011
My brother suffered from schizophrenic episodes for years when he was younger. They dosed him with every medication under the sun short of Thorazine. Like the three other men in the family with schizophrenia or paranoid-schizophrenia, his dementia was linked to episodic religious fits. There was a time when he practically reenacted the Exorcist scene, split-pea soup projectile accompanying sporadic seizures and cursing jags. Its a scary thing to have to deal with, worse having to know that it was ruining such a young life.
We had to make sure he took his pills. Like most depressants, schizophrenics and agoraphobics, taking the pill is a battle. I suffer from it myself. Forgettign about the pills is easy. Forgetting them for days on end is even easier. Until you snap and have to call an ambulance because you think you're having a heart attack while driving over a bridge across the Cal-Sag river. And then it seems really silly that you thought you'd be alright without those pills. That you wouldn't have a panic attack just leaving the house. Or that you wouldn't start seeing ghosts scratching at your legs and trying to drag you to hell while you threw handfuls of your father's ashes at them, trying to ward them away.
Here in Fialkov's 'Echoes', the reader becomes absolutely immersed in the world of Brian Cohn's schizophrenic episodic fits. We are lured down the rabbit hole with him while he struggles to overcome nagging doubts about whether or not he and his father are both serial killers. The black and white artwork lets us focus on the storytelling more than nay sort or form of computer coloring or flashy post-production graphics we see in cape comics. I would have personally drawn sharper contrasts and not had so many greys, showcasing the drastic difference and contrast in what is real and what is isn't, it works. Because it keeps greying the lines between what is real and what isn't. Theose lines become increasingly blurred as Brian Cohn is assaulted on all sides.
This Harvey Award nominated series should have won in all three categories. Its a shame it didn't. A damn shame.
This is the single most brilliant book Top Cow has ever published, and definitely comes in at the top three crime comics Image has ever published (next to Brian Michael Bendis's Torso and Jinx).
Grade: A+
We had to make sure he took his pills. Like most depressants, schizophrenics and agoraphobics, taking the pill is a battle. I suffer from it myself. Forgettign about the pills is easy. Forgetting them for days on end is even easier. Until you snap and have to call an ambulance because you think you're having a heart attack while driving over a bridge across the Cal-Sag river. And then it seems really silly that you thought you'd be alright without those pills. That you wouldn't have a panic attack just leaving the house. Or that you wouldn't start seeing ghosts scratching at your legs and trying to drag you to hell while you threw handfuls of your father's ashes at them, trying to ward them away.
Here in Fialkov's 'Echoes', the reader becomes absolutely immersed in the world of Brian Cohn's schizophrenic episodic fits. We are lured down the rabbit hole with him while he struggles to overcome nagging doubts about whether or not he and his father are both serial killers. The black and white artwork lets us focus on the storytelling more than nay sort or form of computer coloring or flashy post-production graphics we see in cape comics. I would have personally drawn sharper contrasts and not had so many greys, showcasing the drastic difference and contrast in what is real and what is isn't, it works. Because it keeps greying the lines between what is real and what isn't. Theose lines become increasingly blurred as Brian Cohn is assaulted on all sides.
This Harvey Award nominated series should have won in all three categories. Its a shame it didn't. A damn shame.
This is the single most brilliant book Top Cow has ever published, and definitely comes in at the top three crime comics Image has ever published (next to Brian Michael Bendis's Torso and Jinx).
Grade: A+
January 19, 2019
What a dark goddamn story. I don't think I was prepared for this.
Brian goes to visit his father who is dying in the hospital. Right before his father passes away he tells Brian about a house where something is buried, and mentioned the remains of little girls. So Brian goes over to the house to discover a bunch of dolls made up of flesh and bones from missing children. Soon he is consumed with fear and then begins to doubt himself, and who he is, and might be a murderer himself like his father. What becomes even worse is a detective is then hot on his trail and things get messy!
Good: The dark atmosphere is ALWAYS there. Somehow, both the artist and writer manage to have some funny moments, despite how wicked an dark this book gets. I also thought the ending was truly horrifying but it worked on a scary level or horror level because...well it's a horror graphic novel. I thought Brian made for a interesting main character and his self doubt made you question what was happening.
Bad: The twist, while not hard to see coming, did require a pretty decent suspense of disbelief. I just thought it came together too smooth.
Overall, a dark and moody tale well worth reading. I didn't enjoy Foshua Hale story Cleaners but this was pretty dang good. Probably around a 3.5 but for the sake of goodreads I'll hit it with a 4.
Brian goes to visit his father who is dying in the hospital. Right before his father passes away he tells Brian about a house where something is buried, and mentioned the remains of little girls. So Brian goes over to the house to discover a bunch of dolls made up of flesh and bones from missing children. Soon he is consumed with fear and then begins to doubt himself, and who he is, and might be a murderer himself like his father. What becomes even worse is a detective is then hot on his trail and things get messy!
Good: The dark atmosphere is ALWAYS there. Somehow, both the artist and writer manage to have some funny moments, despite how wicked an dark this book gets. I also thought the ending was truly horrifying but it worked on a scary level or horror level because...well it's a horror graphic novel. I thought Brian made for a interesting main character and his self doubt made you question what was happening.
Bad: The twist, while not hard to see coming, did require a pretty decent suspense of disbelief. I just thought it came together too smooth.
Overall, a dark and moody tale well worth reading. I didn't enjoy Foshua Hale story Cleaners but this was pretty dang good. Probably around a 3.5 but for the sake of goodreads I'll hit it with a 4.
March 26, 2016
Brilliant and creepy. The title made sense at the end. I can't believe I put this off. The scenes were so intense. Definitely recommended for horror fans. This needs to be made into a movie!
October 7, 2021
This is the first book from off my Halloween reading list for 2021 and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.
Echoes is essentially a crime/mystery/horror mini-series and this collected edition contains all five issues along with a few extras; original script, cover artwork etc.
The story spins out of a death bed confession, which leaves the main character, Brian Cohn, picking up the pieces of his Father's sinister reality and in the process doubting his own.
It has some incredibly haunting black & white sketch-style artwork, which is absolutely wonderful to look at visually and even though I wouldn't say it brings anything brand new to the genre in the context of it's actual ideas, this is a monumentally cinematic read. It has several great plot twists that are brilliantly delivered - some you'll undoubtedly anticipate and others you definitely won't, but Echoes is easily one of those books that has you wondering straight away why it's never been optioned for a TV series or movie. This would be perfect for Netflix.
I'd never heard of Echoes until it was recommended that I add it to my Halloween reading. I'm very pleased I did. It's a quick, genuinely creepy read, and totally grounded in reality. For me personally it's a successful start to the Halloween reading!
Echoes is essentially a crime/mystery/horror mini-series and this collected edition contains all five issues along with a few extras; original script, cover artwork etc.
The story spins out of a death bed confession, which leaves the main character, Brian Cohn, picking up the pieces of his Father's sinister reality and in the process doubting his own.
It has some incredibly haunting black & white sketch-style artwork, which is absolutely wonderful to look at visually and even though I wouldn't say it brings anything brand new to the genre in the context of it's actual ideas, this is a monumentally cinematic read. It has several great plot twists that are brilliantly delivered - some you'll undoubtedly anticipate and others you definitely won't, but Echoes is easily one of those books that has you wondering straight away why it's never been optioned for a TV series or movie. This would be perfect for Netflix.
I'd never heard of Echoes until it was recommended that I add it to my Halloween reading. I'm very pleased I did. It's a quick, genuinely creepy read, and totally grounded in reality. For me personally it's a successful start to the Halloween reading!
March 13, 2019
Long story short. the dad of our main "hero", tormented of schizophrenia and Alzheimer's, leaves one small clue that he may be something terrible - mass murderer...
Joshua brings us a horror/thriller of the finest class about what is real, what is unreal and how the sanity is something really slippery to grasp on.
The art is very fine (sometimes I felt like in that music video from A-ha), the storytelling is very spot on - Joshua really tries hard to be a step ahead and it works at least up to half a book. This is a one-way story, as many horror/thriller stories are, but I really appreciate it.
Joshua brings us a horror/thriller of the finest class about what is real, what is unreal and how the sanity is something really slippery to grasp on.
The art is very fine (sometimes I felt like in that music video from A-ha), the storytelling is very spot on - Joshua really tries hard to be a step ahead and it works at least up to half a book. This is a one-way story, as many horror/thriller stories are, but I really appreciate it.
February 5, 2013
Brian has a lot to deal with: the impending arrival of his first child, managing his schizophrenia, and his father's final days in the grip of Alzheimer's. Then, on his deathbed, his father directs Brian to a hidden trunk containing dozens of grisly trophies constructed from the corpses of murdered girls. Brian starts to doubt himself, a girl disappears, a nosy cop starts poking around, could Brian have done it and blacked out, twist, twist, the end.
Echoes is basically the novelization of a ho-hum low-budget psychological horror movie. Jump scares, misbehaving mirrors, peekaboo corpses, claustrophobic close-ups, hallucinations, audience-only knowledge, all the usual tropes are present. Some of the panels look like storyboards, like there's supposed to be movement in the finished product.
It wasn't very engaging. Most of the "twists" were obvious by the second chapter (I think there were five chapters in all). Brian's wife was a cardboard cutout. As was Brian himself, really. At least it was a quick read.
Echoes is basically the novelization of a ho-hum low-budget psychological horror movie. Jump scares, misbehaving mirrors, peekaboo corpses, claustrophobic close-ups, hallucinations, audience-only knowledge, all the usual tropes are present. Some of the panels look like storyboards, like there's supposed to be movement in the finished product.
It wasn't very engaging. Most of the "twists" were obvious by the second chapter (I think there were five chapters in all). Brian's wife was a cardboard cutout. As was Brian himself, really. At least it was a quick read.
December 24, 2018
This turned out being a lot creepier than I was expecting. The story was always interesting since the start, but the way it ends is what really packs a punch. If there’s a situation you wouldn’t like to be in, this is definitely it. The black and white artwork fit it perfectly and made the story even more intense.
January 5, 2018
I believe I got the whole series - I may have not, but in any case I will put my review on Vol. 1.
Absolutely incredible - unconventional hero drawn into unconventional problems, with difficult ways out. Fialkov,Joshua,Hale does a great job portraying the horrors of mental illness and Rahsan Ekedal's black and white art just captures the mood well.
I'd say just give this a shot, but be warned - you're in for a ride, in all directions at once.
Absolutely incredible - unconventional hero drawn into unconventional problems, with difficult ways out. Fialkov,Joshua,Hale does a great job portraying the horrors of mental illness and Rahsan Ekedal's black and white art just captures the mood well.
I'd say just give this a shot, but be warned - you're in for a ride, in all directions at once.
May 11, 2021
Very good book, well crafted. Unfortunately, at 120 pages it’s too short to be engaging enough. This is the limit of the medium itself. Look at all the most successful graphic novels: they are all really long.
March 13, 2012
This just didn't work for me. The protagonist's mental illness isn't ever really grounded--we know he's taking pills for something, but not specifically what. We know he had a trying relationship with his father, but not enough detail about what the relationship was. Both these issues really hurt the story that Fialkov is trying to tell here. It could have been a lot better, with just a bit more attention to detail.
September 16, 2011
Moody artwork in black and grey and a really good mystery story dealing with mental illness and coming to terms with a dying father and his legacy on many levels. probably the best thing top cow has ever released. for fans of hitchcock movies. I just wished the book was a bigger format to really appreciate the artwork, but at least it`s a hardcover.
April 4, 2016
A great horror comic. Intense artwork, creative panel layouts, and a properly creepy story.
June 19, 2017
Brilliant horror comic. The psychological element will shake you, guaranteed. The main character has a mental illness that is made infinitely worse by the revelation that his dying father was a serial killer. He hears voices, has hallucinations and believes he has his father's serial killer gene. The cliffhangers at the end of every issue are breathtaking.
Brian Cohn is suffering from Alzheimer's and has to take medication to keep it under control. His father died of the same disease. Before passing his father repeatedly mentions an address and a box hidden under that house. His son goes to investigate and finds that his father was a serial killer who killed hundreds of children and created small dolls out of their flesh and bones.
Brian Cohn is suffering from Alzheimer's and has to take medication to keep it under control. His father died of the same disease. Before passing his father repeatedly mentions an address and a box hidden under that house. His son goes to investigate and finds that his father was a serial killer who killed hundreds of children and created small dolls out of their flesh and bones.
December 16, 2018
I did not expect the ending, but I'm really glad it ended that way. This was really good, dark, unsettling and creepy story. The black and white artwork fits right, making great atmosphere.
March 27, 2017
Una auténtica maravilla. Es una historia retorcida, tétrica y con un ritmo trepidante.
Pocas páginas, pero intensas. Me dolía el estómago de los nervios, y todo.
¡¡QUIERO MÁAAAAAS!!
Pocas páginas, pero intensas. Me dolía el estómago de los nervios, y todo.
¡¡QUIERO MÁAAAAAS!!
September 27, 2015
Eh, this could have been so much better. As it stands, this isn't a bad read. We meet Brian, a man trying to cope with a mental illness and the death of his abusive father at the same time. All Brian wants is for things to be normal. He has a pregnant wife, and has built a life for himself. What could go wrong? Apparently, quite a lot.
Kudos to Fialkov for writing an interesting twist into this serial killer story. I definitely didn't see that coming. What I think was missing here, to really pull me in, was the length. Brian's story was heartbreaking. His inability sometimes to distinguish his hallucinations from reality was terrifying, and I felt for him. It's just that there wasn't enough time for me to really fall into his story. Before I knew it, things were at a climax, and the story was over.
I do have to give a big high five to Rahsan Ekedal for the illustrations in this book though. Each panel is lovingly crafted in black ink on stark white, and it really emphasizes the bleakness of the whole story. I will say that I wasn't a huge fan of the two page spreads, laid out as they were though. It would have been easier to read them in a loosely bound book that would lay flat, but in this case they were hard to read.
Final verdict? Borrow this. It's good, and if you're interested in serial killers I think you'll enjoy it.
Kudos to Fialkov for writing an interesting twist into this serial killer story. I definitely didn't see that coming. What I think was missing here, to really pull me in, was the length. Brian's story was heartbreaking. His inability sometimes to distinguish his hallucinations from reality was terrifying, and I felt for him. It's just that there wasn't enough time for me to really fall into his story. Before I knew it, things were at a climax, and the story was over.
I do have to give a big high five to Rahsan Ekedal for the illustrations in this book though. Each panel is lovingly crafted in black ink on stark white, and it really emphasizes the bleakness of the whole story. I will say that I wasn't a huge fan of the two page spreads, laid out as they were though. It would have been easier to read them in a loosely bound book that would lay flat, but in this case they were hard to read.
Final verdict? Borrow this. It's good, and if you're interested in serial killers I think you'll enjoy it.
April 6, 2016
5 stars
Huge thanks to Joshua Hale Fialkov, Diamond Book Distributors, Image Comics and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
I don't read too many graphic novels as I need to find ones that spark an interest, I'm glad I found this one as it is wonderful!
While Brian's dad is on his death bed he confesses a crime and Brian, unsure of what he's confessing to, goes to find the evidence in the crawl space of the house his father mentions.
The black and white art style of this graphic novel is perfectly in keeping with the narration and story. Brian suffers from schizophrenia, like his father did, and has to take his tablets at a set time, when he doesn't, his mind likes to play with him, as the graphic novel does to us.
I'll definitely be reading more by this author as this was brilliant.
Huge thanks to Joshua Hale Fialkov, Diamond Book Distributors, Image Comics and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for an honest review.
I don't read too many graphic novels as I need to find ones that spark an interest, I'm glad I found this one as it is wonderful!
While Brian's dad is on his death bed he confesses a crime and Brian, unsure of what he's confessing to, goes to find the evidence in the crawl space of the house his father mentions.
The black and white art style of this graphic novel is perfectly in keeping with the narration and story. Brian suffers from schizophrenia, like his father did, and has to take his tablets at a set time, when he doesn't, his mind likes to play with him, as the graphic novel does to us.
I'll definitely be reading more by this author as this was brilliant.
April 2, 2012
I'm wavering back and forth on my rating on this one... it might deserve a four or five star rating, but... I don't know... I felt a little cheated by the ending. Not that the ending didn't make sense within the context of the story, and gods know that I read lots of stories where the "good guy" loses, but, for some reason, this story felt to me like it really wanted an ending where the antagonist gets his, and Brian and his wife find their happy ending. Instead, the ending left me feeling really profoundly disappointed and upset. That being said, I was definitely engrossed in the story--the art and story work really well together, and it was a creepy tale, even if I didn't appreciate the ending, and there are clearly a lot of people for whom the ending worked well.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 3, 2016
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Brian was learning to control his schizophrenia when he visits his father on his deathbed. His father whispers something to him that leads Brian to believe his father may have been a serial killer. As Brian deals with his schizophrenia, he has difficulty discerning what's real and what isn't. Is Brian succumbing to unnatural urges within him or is it all just a dream? The black and white artwork fits right into the stark story.
Received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Received an advance copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 27, 2018
A deeply haunting and terrifying story of murder, mental illness, and the fraught relationships between fathers and sons. Though it has moments of visual horror that are well-crafted and scary, the real terror here lies in the uncertainty, shame, and guilt associated with sharing an inherited mental illness. This could easily work as a film, given the riveting murder-mystery plot and cinematic eye of the artist, but it also has a certain bleak psychological power on the black & white page that might be hard to capture in another medium.
May 15, 2016
Wow.
Wow.
Creepy.
Dark.
Horrific.
What can I say that won't give anything away?
Besides that it was so intense I had to finish it in a single sitting?
The writing was good and the black and white art lent a mysterious air to the story.
Definitely a different kind of whodunnit.
Recommended if you like dark stories with serial killers.
Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Distributors, and Image Comics for a copy in return for an honest review.
Wow.
Creepy.
Dark.
Horrific.
What can I say that won't give anything away?
Besides that it was so intense I had to finish it in a single sitting?
The writing was good and the black and white art lent a mysterious air to the story.
Definitely a different kind of whodunnit.
Recommended if you like dark stories with serial killers.
Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Distributors, and Image Comics for a copy in return for an honest review.
May 23, 2015
I was left wanting more from this novel. The concept was disturbing (in a good way) but it just wasn't fleshed out (no pun intended) well enough for me. So basically, it had potential but I was disappointed by the length.
June 9, 2012
It's was interesting around the first half, then a big twist occurs and the story becomes extremely convoluted and cheesy. Pretty disappointing that it turned out this way.
December 14, 2013
Психологический триллер с непредсказуемым концом и отличной рисовкой. Маст рид.
June 27, 2024
I first encountered Echoes in a Top Cow sampler trade that collected six #1 issues of new titles before they were published in single magazine format, all for $4.99 MSRP. Echoes #1 haunted me, not in a boo, scary way, but in a way where I couldn't stop thinking about it. While it is indeed a Horror book, it is 21st Century smart while being grounded in the finest of Horror traditions. I did something that I haven't done in years. I immediately read it the day that it was released.
The premise of the book, without giving away anything: Brian Cohn is a man who suffers from schizophrenia and loses his father after a prolonged battle with Alzheimer's. On his deathbed, his father confesses a secret...a black, dirty little secret that threatens to push Brian far over the edge. The question of whether all of this is real or imagined is the crux of this story, and it works extremely well. I will tell you nothing else of the plot, aside from the fact that it's a great read that is worthy of your hard earned discretionary income.
The book boasts nice paper stock but has incredibly stiff binding. It looks perfect bound (read: glued) but I noticed stitches in at least one spot that indicated sewn binding. The book signatures do not upwardly arch like books with sewn binding typically do as you read them, so I am leaning towards calling this glued. It's most definitely a two fisted read, moustrap binding type of read. Don't let that deter you from giving this book a try, though, as it is a great read. The cover has a screen printed image which is partially revealed through the die-cut dustjacket. Fancy production values, binding aside. Lots of DVD style extras in the back of the book, including a full color cover gallery. (The main story is in black and white.)
The premise of the book, without giving away anything: Brian Cohn is a man who suffers from schizophrenia and loses his father after a prolonged battle with Alzheimer's. On his deathbed, his father confesses a secret...a black, dirty little secret that threatens to push Brian far over the edge. The question of whether all of this is real or imagined is the crux of this story, and it works extremely well. I will tell you nothing else of the plot, aside from the fact that it's a great read that is worthy of your hard earned discretionary income.
The book boasts nice paper stock but has incredibly stiff binding. It looks perfect bound (read: glued) but I noticed stitches in at least one spot that indicated sewn binding. The book signatures do not upwardly arch like books with sewn binding typically do as you read them, so I am leaning towards calling this glued. It's most definitely a two fisted read, moustrap binding type of read. Don't let that deter you from giving this book a try, though, as it is a great read. The cover has a screen printed image which is partially revealed through the die-cut dustjacket. Fancy production values, binding aside. Lots of DVD style extras in the back of the book, including a full color cover gallery. (The main story is in black and white.)
May 14, 2019
This is a horror graphic novel with a mental health twist.
Echoes is the story of Brian Cohn, a loving husband and expectant father who is living with schizophrenia. On his deathbed, Brian’s father confesses to a life as a serial killer, and a horrifying secret hidden at an abandoned suburban home. Things go from bad to worse, as Brian starts to question if he and his father share the same madness, and Brian’s carefully-maintained sense of normalcy gives way to an ongoing nightmare. But is that really what happened?
The author generates the tension in this story by bringing everything close to home. The killers here aren’t monsters from hockey masks, they’re our neighbors. Which carries its own brand of horror.
The thing that I like about this is that while Brian's struggles are very real and different from the thinking most of us experience, but we are rooting for him to come out on top. A swiftly read but not easily forgotten graphic novel.
Echoes is the story of Brian Cohn, a loving husband and expectant father who is living with schizophrenia. On his deathbed, Brian’s father confesses to a life as a serial killer, and a horrifying secret hidden at an abandoned suburban home. Things go from bad to worse, as Brian starts to question if he and his father share the same madness, and Brian’s carefully-maintained sense of normalcy gives way to an ongoing nightmare. But is that really what happened?
The author generates the tension in this story by bringing everything close to home. The killers here aren’t monsters from hockey masks, they’re our neighbors. Which carries its own brand of horror.
The thing that I like about this is that while Brian's struggles are very real and different from the thinking most of us experience, but we are rooting for him to come out on top. A swiftly read but not easily forgotten graphic novel.
May 14, 2018
Freakin' fantastic horror. I bought this (a full collection) despite my hesitation about a classic mental-illness-a-horror-trope. Without giving out too many spoilers here, I want to note up front that this doesn't play that game to the problematic implication -- there is horror that comes from mental illness symptoms but the reader is not afraid of our mentally ill protagonist but empathetic towards them, and it really heightens the level of fear here. The illustration is eerie and despite the lack of color, uses many different details to bring the idea of living in fear and guilt and uncertainty, plus a little gore, to life.
February 7, 2018
Presented here is the incredibly sad and creepy tale of mental illness and evil. Those are mutually exclusive here as the mental illnesses here aren't exploited just displayed to the nth degree. Both Fialkov and Ekedal handle the topic well. The book starts in a direction and then moves in another one while keeping the reader on edge. The art is beautifully done and the lack of color isn't a bad thing. Overall a very good book.
November 1, 2022
Successfully creeped me out in a couple parts, so kudos to Fialkov and Ekedal for achieving that. This comic is very atmospheric - the artwork depicts some chilling scenes and the script really gets dark at times. My main issues is that the comic requires some suspension of disbelief and relies on commonly used horror tropes. I was teetering on rating this a 3.5, but I do think for a horror comic this does much more right than it does wrong.
September 6, 2020
Brian, who is schizophrenic, is dropped into a confusing world of doubt when his dying father's last words point him to a cache of dead children.
This was such a quick, short read that I didn't ever feel like I was in the main character's head, so the darkness didn't really touch me. Still - an interesting take on serial killers and mental illness.
This was such a quick, short read that I didn't ever feel like I was in the main character's head, so the darkness didn't really touch me. Still - an interesting take on serial killers and mental illness.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews