Spontaneous

by Joe Harris, Brett Weldele

Phenomenon, conspiracy, or delusion? "Kelvin" Melvin Reyes was only three years old when Spontaneous Human Combustion took his father from him. He's since devoted his life to exploring the mystery behind the phenomenon, searching for a pattern and predictors that he might save others from that same fiery fate. But the closer he gets to his goal, the further things lead down a well of secrets, horrors, and terrible truths. Is SHC real? And, if so, can it be stopped?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult, Science Fiction, Comic Book, Mystery

144 pages, Hardcover

First published February 22, 2012

About the author

JOE HARRIS is the co-creator and writer of original comics and graphic novels such as the Image Comics rock ‘n’ roll thrill ride, Rockstars, and the environmental sci-fi epics, Great Pacific and Snowfall; along with the supernatural thrillers, Ghost Projekt and Spontaneous, and the children’s fantasy, Wars In Toyland, for Oni Press. In 2013, Joe began a long stint writing the officially-licensed continuation of the paranormal investigations of Agents Mulder and Scully in The X-Files comics at IDW to the enjoyment of fans around the world. The X-Files: Cold Cases—the best-selling audio dramatization of Joe’s comics scripts featuring the voices of David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and the entire original X-Files cast—and the follow-up, The X-Files: Stolen Lives were released by Audible beginning in 2017.

As a young creator at Marvel Comics, Joe launched the cult-classic Spider-Man spinoff, Slingers and the Bishop: The Last X-Man series. He has written for just about all major comics publishers including DC Comics, Marvel, Image, IDW, Dark Horse, Valiant, BOOM! and others.

A horror screenwriter and filmmaker, Harris conceived and co-wrote Darkness Falls for Sony Pictures—after his short film, Tooth Fairy was acquired by Revolution Studios and he was hired to develop it into a feature—along with the politically farcical slasher movie, The Tripper for FOX. In 2018, he co-wrote the live-action web series, Ninjak vs. the Valiant Universe for Valiant Entertainment.

His latest project is Surviving Nuclear Attack, a paranoid sci-fi thriller, set to launch in 2019 as part of John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction from Storm King Comics.

Reviews

[Sasha · Rating 1 out of 5]

A friend says to you: “I just spent a week growing mold from my bathroom on slices of bread that I shaped into letters of the Roman alphabet. Now I’m going to use the mildewy letters to write a big message on a poster. Want to help me with this project?”

Are you intrigued or grossed out? If your reaction is anywhere from “this could be interesting” to “sign me up”, you might potentially enjoy Spontaneous. The story in this graphic novel is really hard to follow, and the cast is full of caricatures. But some readers might still enjoy the book because of the gritty art style. Hence, my mildew letter test. I wasn’t part of the select group that passed it.

Here’s the most pivotal moment in the main character’s backstory. The art style is easy to see. It’s not so easy to see what is happening and how it’s connected to anything’s that precedes this page.



The concept behind Spontaneous could potentially be interesting: people in a small town have been spontaneously bursting into flames. The main character is obsessed with this phenomenon, and it appears that nobody else in town sees it happening. He wants to figure what’s going on and how to stop these human fires. An unhinged freelance reporter joins his investigation and embellishes the story with her abrasive verbosity. Unfortunately, the dialogue sounds like each character goes around their lives overacting a trope.

Going through this graphic novel, I wondered if the creator wanted to bring filmmaking techniques into the graphic novel genre, unsuccessfully. The narrative switches between timelines and settings without alerting us to the switch. There is no clear indication of where and when we are at any given point. I’m pretty sure there’s a crucial moment around the middle of the graphic novel, where each panel flips between two locations (possibly two timelines, too?) That would work on film - you see two scenes weaving into one another during climactic moments sometimes. But it does not work in this graphic novel.

Finally, blatant and unclever fatphobia is present from the beginning and seems to be at least partially tied into the concept behind the novel. Or maybe it isn’t connected to the central concept, but I was confused and misinterpreted that while trying to piece together what the author was saying. Both possibilities seem equally likely from my vantage point.

Spontaneous first came out in hardcover 2012 and will be coming out in paperback in 2024. It might appeal to a certain niche of readers, but it wasn’t for me.

Thanks to the author, Oni Press, and NetGalley for a free copy of Spontaneous in exchange for an honest review.

[Esme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the concept for this graphic novel, and I was so invested for the first 100 pages, but then I started loosing a bit of interest. The story has a lot more depth to it that you can imagine which I loved there were many secrets to uncover.

The art style is not my personal favorite, it's still beautiful art, I just found it hard to make out sometimes.


thank you Netgalley for a digital copy in exchange for an honest review!

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spontaneous human combustion is such an interesting phenomenon. Structuring a mystery story around a guy trying to find out what exactly causes it could be so so so cool. In fact, the blurb sounds amazing: "...What follows is a supernatural trip down a suburban rabbit hole as Melvin’s quest to honor his father’s memory unlocks the mysteries of his town’s dark past and his own family secrets." Sadly, I feel like the marketing is MUCH more successful than the comic book itself.

First of all, the art on the cover looks infinitely better than the art found inside the pages of Spontaneous. I was expecting this kind of sketchy, expressive style with maybe some interesting color accents. I especially missed the expressiveness from the cover because by God were those characters bland, even more bland than the monotonous colors. I get the grimy, coffee-stained look, but on EVERY SINGLE PAGE? No, sir. Every page is either brown or blue and it got so so so boring looking at panel after panel of brown water color.

The plot was okay, though it lacked a lot that could have made it more interesting. As I mentioned, the characters were dull and uninspired, really an amalgamation of tropes/plot devices rather than people you want to root for - Emily was definitely the most fleshed-out of the whole bunch. Though it is not the only reason, this fact definitely fueled my hatred towards the fully random kissing scene between Melvin and Emily, who had literally zero chemistry throughout the story.
Speaking of story, I think the whole thing rides on the supposed "plot twist" - without it, it packs no emotional punch whatsoever. There are always many many problems when the weight lies on The Big Twist™ as the saving grace of any story: often, these types of narratives have nothing going for them besides "blowing the audience's mind" and they use twists as window dressing to make an otherwise completely uncompelling narrative appear smart, tense, you name it. At worst, the audience can guess the twist anyway and the whole experience crumbles.
Well, Spontaneous falls in the you-know-the-plot-twist-literally-from-page-1-category. I'm not kidding when I say that when the very first guy caught fire, I immediately knew what was going on. It was so so so painfully obvious that I was frustrated with our main character for not catching on. And the other backstory stuff was your pretty standard vague "yeah some rich maniac created something and that was bad ig" - they literally say that no one really knows what it was lol

Is Spontaneous worth your time? It could be if you're looking for a flat story to kill an hour waiting for the train. It wasn't the worst reading experience of my life BY FAR, don't get me wrong, but it was just so mediocre and bland that I'm hard-pressed to recommend this one. It's okay to while away some time, but more than that? Not for me.

- ARC provided by NetGalley -

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I actually think that I would have loved this 11 years ago when it originally came out. Unfortunately, it isn't timeless and doesn't work for me as much now. On the other hand... The art style, which I've seen some people criticize, worked for me. I felt like it gave it a nice grimy feel, almost like I was watching a found footage film rather than reading somebody's article on the events; it helped with creating this sleazy, unsettling atmosphere, something gritty and dirty, which I felt complemented the topic pretty well.

I think it could have said lots more about worker exploitation. It was almost like we dipped our toes into the subjects but were too scared to explore it properly.

I also found it to be a bit of a shame that the only stand-out character was the main character, but it wasn't necessarily because of any character development (as there wasn't really any), it was only because he was the only one not made out of cardboard.

Overall I was intrigued enough/not bored the whole time to not give it a lower rating, but I'm not sure I will remember any of it in a month's time.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Oni Press for an advanced copy of this graphic novel that is both a supernatural tale, and story of a young man dealing with guilt and trauma from an early age.

When I was young, I was addicted to books about strange phenomena. Ghostly presences, mediums, trances and all the weird ways in which people would die. Spontaneous Human Combustion was one of those weird death things that I really enjoyed reading about. Bursting into flame for no reason, just seemed so weird a death, so crazy. Looking a black and white photos of a human form burned into a chair really frightened my young self. Maybe it was the fact I was a portly lad, and thought my body would make a magnificant candle. My childhood fascination could be why I enjoyed this graphic novel so much. Spontaneous written by Joe Harris and illustrated by Brett Weldele is a story about bodies bursting into flame, the guilt of one boy, and the plucky journalist who helps him get to the truth.

"Kelvin" Melvin Reyes had his life changed by fire. At the age of three his father, suddenly burst into flames, killing him, and maiming his mother, who spends her days supported by machines. Reyes has become fascinated with the idea of spontaneous human combustion, an obsession made worse by the fact that Reyes hears voice urging him to burn, and let loose, and Reyes fears he was the cause of his father's death. Reyes and a friend, a techy boy from school have developed a system to find people about to burst into flames, but Reyes has no idea why or how to stop it. A young woman with dreams of being a investigative reporter with a flair of Gonzo journalism, has given new hope and help to Reyes' quest, and he feels he might be on to something. However, the small town he lives in has a lot of secrets, and danger might be much closer than Reyes thinks.

A sort of Nancy Drew meets a Hardy Boy with a generous dash of the X-Files. With a bit of Hunter S. Thompson. The story is good and the characters are interesting especially Emily the reporter to be. I really enjoyed her character a lot and can see more supernatural stories in her future. Reyes is very interesting as a character, one who was deeply effected by what happened, and how maybe he is not the innocent that he plays. There are a lot of little things, accidents avoided, near death dodged, and a sheriff who seems to always have her child in tow. The pacing is good, but there seems to be a little vagueness on the way to the ending, but that is a small quibble. The illustrations were quite good. A mix of Charles Adlard from early X-Files comics with a sort of haze look that one gets when one stares at a fire. Smoky, a distant feeling, yet really helps convey what is happening on the page.

Recommended for readers of Jonathan Maberry, X-Files fans and for readers of Daniel Cohen who wrote so many of those early supernatural stories that I read in the library. Good story and very good artwork, and again I would love to see more stories with Emily the reporter.

[Freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Oni Press for providing me with this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This one was right up my alley!! It felt like this could have been a The X-Files episode, a show I absolutely adored since day 1! Replace Scully with a Louis Lane like character called Emily and Mulder with a guilt-ridden and traumatized teenager called Melvin, add an incredibly intriguing subject, namely spontaneous combustion of people and one of the most unique and incredible art styles I’ve ever seen, to the mix and you get Spontaneous!

Let’s talk some more about the art first. A somewhat vague, gritty, monochrome art style that had a feeling of its own. The art combined with this eerie story gave me goosebumps more than once! And the way light and fire almost jumped of the pages, when added to the illustrations.. Impressive! It even often looked like the pages were burned or covered in soot which couldn’t fit this story better.

Melvin lives in a town called Bayville and together with his friend Kenny, he’s investigating a strange phenomena happening to some people there. The same thing that happened to his father, in front of Melvin, when they were celebrating his third birthday. He now wants to save others from suffering the same fate.

When he’s working at a shopping mall food court, a man called Hubert Michaels, who is eating there, combusts.

For me, the creepiest thing about these spontaneous combustions was that the victims didn’t react or move at all when it happend! It’s like they were hypnotized..

After the event at the food court, there’s this extremely motivated reporter called Emily, who starts asking Melvin a lot of questions. She’s looking for something to explain this and she soon learns about the investigation Melvin is conducting. They start working together to uncover the truth.

They soon start making connections with Grimm Industries, a company operating in Bayville 25 years ago, working on secret military projects but Emily also learns about Melvin’s troubled past and there’s more behind it than she could ever have guessed.

This started off really strong but unfortunately some characters important to the plot had barely any page time. I think if the plot and some of the characters were developed more and the ending was less hurried and confusing, this would have been a five star read for me. Don’t get me wrong, I was impressed with some of the story, the idea behind it and the art!

[Katharine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

I really expected this to be a deeper and more interesting graphic novel than it ended up being. Instead of coming off as a mystery thriller, it honestly came off as a little bland. The concepts are all very interesting, but the execution didn't quite work. The characters themselves didn't feel like they could be real people, they felt like they were heavily based on common character tropes and had their characters be built solely from those tropes. The reporter didn't feel like a person, she felt like a bit like a plot device. I think another issue is that because it's trying so hard to be mysterious, nothing ends up getting explained. So you end up left in the dark not fully understanding what is going on. I think the shortness of this graphic novel also played a huge part in why it felt semi-rushed. The short length didn't give the story time to breathe or flesh itself out, so it ends up being hobbled by its 146-page length. Basically, the pacing was off. The art was okay, but I didn't really care for it. The texture they used on all of the pages to make them look gritty just made what was happening on some pages harder to understand. This story had potential, but it feels like it fell flat on its face.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks Netgallery for an advance copy to review.

Sadly though this one didn't work for me. The idea is pretty neat. People exploring into a pile of ashes is always intriguing. We want to know why though. And with the Stephen King like hook I was down to learn. However, the dialogue and way people talked felt like nobody was actually talking to each other, just making statements. It didn't flow naturally at all. On top of that while the art is simple and nice to look at, it can be confusing the structure of it following the story beat and I felt maybe it could have been just the overall direction of the book. The idea is great, but the actual story isn't nearly as interesting once reading sadly.

A 2 out of 5.

[James DeSantis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks Netgallery for an advance copy to review.

Sadly though this one didn't work for me. The idea is pretty neat. People exploring into a pile of ashes is always intriguing. We want to know why though. And with the Stephen King like hook I was down to learn. However, the dialogue and way people talked felt like nobody was actually talking to each other, just making statements. It didn't flow naturally at all. On top of that while the art is simple and nice to look at, it can be confusing the structure of it following the story beat and I felt maybe it could have been just the overall direction of the book. The idea is great, but the actual story isn't nearly as interesting once reading sadly.

A 2 out of 5.

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel is about spontaneous human combustion. This was almost a DNF because the start is slow and trying to figure out what’s going on takes too long. But sticking with it means you get to the end of a pretty fantastic story. There’s a teenage boy Melvin, and two different time periods where Melvin has not been born yet, and the one he is experiencing right now. There’s a new journalist following him around trying to get to the bottom of all the fiery deaths. This is a horror graphic novel, so it is a bit bloody and a bit dark but if you like that, give this a shot. The artwork is unique, and at first, I didn’t like it, but it grew on me, as well as the story. By the end this all works well together to make a very interesting and well worth the graphic novel story.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kelvin has an obsession with fire, after tragic events in his family. Behind the truth of the deaths by fire of people Kelvin has touched has a sinister background, ending in a Pyrrhic victory of sorts for a gonzo journalist trying to break a story around the deaths. This starts off strong but fizzles out as the true villains are revealed with just a few too many winks at Stephen King for my liking, which threw me out of the story. Brett Wedele's art feels a bit like Ben Templesmith's, and that's appropriate but sometimes makes it harder to follow the plot.
If you're a big Harris fan, worth looking for, but otherwise, nothing to send out an ILL for, for example.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the gritty almost blurred feel of this comic. A visual feel all of its own, perfectly matching the story. There is a mysterious feel to the story line, and questions still to be answered. Spontaneous human combustion, real or fiction? Whichever you believe, this is a comic is for you. Thank you to Oni Press and NetGalley for the comic ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

[Dalton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art was hard to look at for me and this idea of SHC has been being done in fiction a lot in the last decade and not a lit of people are doing it in an enough of an interesting way to justify making more of it.

[Tyler Marsolais · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was really cool!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need answers!

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty good! The horror / mystery /sci-fi parts were very interesting. I enjoyed the twist. The ending wasn’t satisfying enough but I still enjoyed the story overall.

[Andréa]

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to love "Spontaneous" a little more than what I did for the intrigue of the story as well as the dark style of the artwork. It feels like an X-Files or Twilight Zone story except that the twist doesn't feel that genuine and it somewhat stumbles forward in its execution towards the end after the aforementioned twist. I loved the narrative style, I loved the artwork, I didn't love the story in its collective considerations.

"Spontaneous" is a sci-fi/horror graphic novel that centers on "Kelvin" Melvin Reyes, a teen investigating the cause of his father's mysterious death by human combustion several years ago, one that also severely injured his mother as well. Little is known about what's causing the people around Melvin's hometown to combust, but as he teams up with an assertive reporter named Emily, he realizes the truth may be closer than he thinks, with horrendous consequences. It has much to do with an explosion that occurred at a local plant and affected the workers involved in that plant and their families. But Melvin realizes that he may also be fighting off a dark influence linked to that disaster as well.

The set up at the beginning of this graphic novel was really strong, and had me invested in both Melvin and Emily's plights. Granted, Melvin's a bit of a quiet sort who seems to be fighting off his own inner demons, but he still seems like the kind of hero worth following in the beginning. As the events of the novel come to pass, including the twist - it gets a little muddled, because I suspected up to a certain point how the plot would move, but I wondered how they would tie it in. While some of the explanation given behind the combustions was plausible, I lost investment with the forced love interest turn and the last stretch of events in the comic, including the manhunt scenario. It just felt a bit too overblown for the scope of the story. Still, I don't regret reading it, and I did like the story up to a certain point. I would recommend it for those who don't mind reading an interesting supernatural/murder-mystery story, but I would say not to expect too much going into it.

Overall score: 2.5/5

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Oni Press.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was really the premise of Spontaneous that first prompted me to review this. Spontaneous Human Combustion is something that we really don't stop to think about. I was intrigued to see what path author Joe Harris would take. So with an open mind, I dove right in.

The story flies by as the pages tell Melvin's story. The problem with this brevity is that there is really no time to develop the characters. Melvin is a tormented soul, and that's him through the whole book. Emily is that no-holds-barred reporter who is dead set on getting her story, and again she doesn't change. In fact most of the secondary characters don't even get enough face time for the reader to fully even notice them. I liked that the book moved so quickly, but I would have read for longer if it meant more time to spend with the characters.

What's good about the way that this story is written is that there isn't any down time at all. From page one the reader is drawn into the mystery of the people who are suffering from this odd fate. Melvin's story blossoms beautifully, slowly letting the reader see just enough to keep them intrigued. I think this is where Emily's character truly shined. As you are doing your best to figure out what Melvin is going to do next, Emily is uncovering the story behind it all. At the end I honestly did a double take. It was that interesting.

In terms of illustrations, Spontaneous is a lot different than other books I've seen. The art style is a mixture of hard, bold lines with soft watercolor providing some warmth. The people in the story look more like sketches than anything else. More like caricatures than actual people. It works for the story though, and I'm honestly impressed by Brett Weldele's talent. His illustrations allow the story to shine through, without taking over.

Final verdict? Spontaneous is definitely something to check out if you are a fan of graphic novels. The story is unique and quick moving, and I'm certain that you'll fall in love with the illustrations.

[Sharon Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spontaneous by Joe Harris and Brett Weldele is a graphic novel four young adults and adults. It deals with the idea of spontaneous human combustion, of SHC. When "Kelvin" Melvin Reyes was only three his father was the first, but not the last, person in the area to die from SHC. Since then many more have suffered the same fate, and Kelvin is determine to uncover the pattern and cause of these horrible deaths. A reporters help gets him closer to understanding the phenomenon, but the closer he gets to his goal leads to secrets that might destroy his world. Is the phenomenon of SHC real, and if so who or what is behind it all?





Spontaneous is a horror story that can really get readers thinking. Unexplainable deaths being covered up by authorities and a town held silent is not all that far fetched in today's world of conspiracy theories and backdoor politics. Who knows what might be accomplished or altered in individuals when exposed to particular chemicals? Spontaneous uses those fears and doubts to make the story feel very real. Kelvin wants to discover the pattern and cause of the deaths, but he is also hoping to stop them from happening. There are twists and turns in his journey that seem expected, and some that certainly are not. The artwork is vivid and perfectly paired with the story to affect the right atmosphere and intensity throughout. Could an industrial accident or experiment cause people to spontaneously combust, and could it change the abilities of those simply in the area? Perhaps the answer is even more frightening for all of us.

I recommend Spontaneous to fans of graphic novels, horror stories, and mysteries. While it is physiologically horrifying and there are occasional scenes of death or destruction, there are no overly violent images. There are some disturbing frames, of burn victims, but no more than necessary to convey the full effect of the story. I am not normally a horror fan, but I did enjoy this story and consider it well worth the read.

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of a boy investigating Spontaneous Human Combustion after witnessing the sudden death of his father intrigued me, so here I am, reading and reviewing.

The story runs at a quick pace, the book brief enough we tend to have caricatures more than actual characters. Emily is a modernized version of Lois Lane, her job made harder by the fact that print newspapers are dying. Melvin is appropriately tormented, but there isn't much more to him than that. There's even less substance to the secondary characters, each of whom is defined by their role in the comic rather than any personality traits.

Brevity keeps all attention on the unfolding plot and the mystery of the spontaneously combusing people. The tension is relentless, but it's not entirely a grim book; there are moments of humour to break up the dark plotline, which takes a couple of small turns before the big plot twist you're at least half expecting, but it's revealed in such a surprisingly emotional way it ends up working anyway.

The art style is unique, a combination of hard lines rendered in soft watercolours. The sketchy, monochrome drawings create a mood without overshadowing the story they're trying to tell. Weldele is talented, and a story like this plays to his strengths.

The hardcover price will probably scare off a lot of potential consumers, and I'm not sure I'd be willing to pony up 25$ for it myself, but if you get a chance to read the thing, it's well worth a look.

[Stephanie (Gorelenore) Cover2CoverBlog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Background: Melvin was only three when his father died of a horrible combustion, otherwise known to Melvin as Spontaneous Human Combustion. Melvin is now older and trying to place the puzzle pieces together about why his father died and what is going on with the others that have had the same blistering death.

Review: This was an interesting read. It is a graphic novel with beautiful artwork, however the character close ups all look pretty similar so it can get confusing at times. The story line was interesting. Melvin’s character meets up with an aspiring journalist and together they try to solve the mystery of spontaneous human combustion. Melvin is enthusiastic to search because he wants to explain away what happened to his father, so the story jumps right into another person dying of a horrible accident.

The story seems like it would be an interesting one, the main issue I had with it was its terseness, the story doesn’t have time to develop the plot as much as I would have liked it to, and the characters are underdeveloped because of it. The overall idea behind the story is what kept me reading, I think the spontaneous fiery death thing has a lot going for it, however overall it fell a little shorter than I had hoped, the ending was a bit of a cop-out. If it had been a little lengthier, I think the ending would have fit nicer, once we got to know the characters more.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reason for Reading: Once upon a time when I was a wacky teenager, I was really into spontaneous human combustion and read lots of stuff about it. Couldn't get over the creepy photographs! I couldn't pass this one by.

This novel didn't really do too much for me. It was ok, good ok. But that is all. The artwork is not a style that impresses me much. Simple sketching and pages done in monotones, with the colours changing to reflect the atmosphere, emotion of the scene being played out. What bothered me the most was that the story couldn't seem to decide whether it was going to be paranormal or not. So it hovered between having a rational explanation and going off on a paranormal twist which just didn't work for me. I would have liked the story much better if the old guy's powers had been omitted, then it would have been a satisfactory combination of paranormal into the ordinary. I'd pick this one up at the library for a quick read, unless maybe you collect SHC stuff.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gets three stars rather than two because of one idea that was really interesting to me he's the CATALYST! Damn! Other than that, it's entertaining but there are plenty of moments where I'm like "huh? what?" and "wait, what?" and "okay, but that doesn't make sense...". It's a shame, because the thing that blew my mind could have been handled much better. I would have loved for this story to be very complete and have every little detail come back around with no extraneous info or things that didn't make sense. It came so close to being one of those books where as soon as you finish it, you start again to see it all with your new information and you ooh and ahh over how perfectly it all works.

[Frédéric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting idea. If you think the shadow of Stephen King looms over it, rest assured, Firestarter is namely cited, the filiation is accepted.
Sadly the plot and characters are way too underdeveloped for me to give it a better rating. The relationship between Melvin and Kenny is obscure, almost as much as "The Boss" motivations. Looks like a novel idea disguised as a comic book.
Nice art from Weldele, even though sometimes characters/actions are sketchy and unclear.

[Yiota · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay...confusing at start but the whole mystery has something
that made me read it til the end.

[altough2008 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Review to come