The Dark & Bloody

The Dark & Bloody #1-6

by Shawn Aldridge (Writer), Scott Godlewski (Artist), Patricia Mulvihill (Colourist)

Guns, moonshine, monsters--there's a lot going on in the backwoods of Kentucky. Iris Gentry is a war veteran who returned from Iraq to find his options for supporting his family limited. Since they live in a "dry" county, Iris has turned to running moonshine for his former ranking officer--meaning the men now share crimes at home and abroad. You see, back in their combat days, Iris's regiment got involved in something they shouldn't have, and now a deadly, otherworldly consequence has come looking for vengeance.

Collecting: The Dark & Bloody 1-6

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics, Fantasy, Paranormal, Comic Book

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2016

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 2 out of 5]

Iris is a veteran of the Second Gulf War and spends his days selling ‘shine to his backwoods clientele and being a mediocre husband and father. But he’s haunted by his time in the Iraqi desert and what he and his platoon did - and the demons from that time are coming home to roost…

I didn’t really know what to expect with The Dark & The Bloody and unfortunately it turns out that it’s a pretty crappy Southern Gothic horror, similar to Wytches and Harrow County. Neither the characters nor the story are in the least bit compelling with the whole thing tediously unfolding slowly. This person is killed off followed by another and… zzz… It took me a while to wade through because I just didn’t care!

I suppose it’s an imaginative take on the shit America got up to in the Middle East - it’s an original premise, I’ll give it that - and the monster is visually interesting, but I found The Dark & The Bloody to be a bloody unengaging, bland horror.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is listed as volume one but I believe this is actually a one-off story, complete in and of itself.

What a story it is, too! This is definitely one of the best horror comics I've ever read. It's genuinely scary, well executed and has a valuable message about the lasting effects of war on both the innocent victims who are caught in the crossfire and the troops who serve on the front line. It manages to be genuinely sympathetic to both and never comes across as preachy. It's genuinely moving without ever becoming overly sentimental; I actually had tears in my eyes while reading the last issue.

I absolutely loved this book and will definitely be looking out for this creative team's future projects.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one really impressed me. A soldier returns from Iraq but his demons follow him home, literally in this case as an ancient demon of vengeance has come from the Middle East to seek revenge on him even though he wasn't entirely guilty of his crimes.

The art was good, I liked the rural Kentucky setting, the characters were pretty believable, the demon was spooky. This was just a graphic novel that came in way above expectations and turned out to be a great Halloween read.

Fans of more mature horror comics should check this out, as it's a little deeper than the average horror comic.

[Michael Huntone · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good horror comic, telling a story about grief and the horrors of war, as sort of a PTSD parable. Don't know that it quite stuck the landing, but the story was pretty well paced, well told and the art was beautiful!

[Zoë · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is so much background missing; I'm just left with What...? and Why...? Oh, and the artist has the worst baby-drawing skills I've ever seen. That is one ugly baby.

[47Time · Rating 4 out of 5]

While the horror elements seem spot on as far as I can tell, what attracts me to this book are the nice artwork and realistic dialogue. The setting is a small, peaceful town in Kentucky where time moves slowly. The dialogue stood out and I could almost hear the accent as I was reading. The idea behind the thing that stirs up the main character's life is that the past can come back to haunt you. The love of family can make people into heroes and it is that feeling that guides the protagonist on his path. He becomes willing to sacrifice himself for his family.

Iris Gentry is a war veteran who has returned to his farm to live with his wife Sarah and son Shiloh. The nightmares from the war still haunt him. One day the sheriff tells Iris about two of his friends, both former squad mates, who went missing after buying some moonshine from him. Iris is surprised one evening when the two friends spring out of nowhere and attack him. They are physically deformed and threaten Iris and his family, referring to his war days. They get the business end of his shotgun. When the sheriff shows up the bodies are missing, so Iris's story has no proof.

Iris's war days became unbearable after his squad leader had them kill an innocent family. The daughter was the only one to survive thanks to a magic crow. She is Ayah, the girl Shiloh befriended. Now the demon that kept her alive has followed the squad members for vengeance. It attacks Sarah who is saved at the last second by Elijah Cooper, the town kook who has felt the presence of the demon of vengeance. It kidnaps Shiloh before fleeing.

Iris realizes that the cause of their predicament is the innocents his squad killed during the war. He offers up his boss, the former squad leader and the man who pulled the trigger on Ayah's family, but it still wants Iris dead. Iris doesn't go without a fight and when the sheriff distracts the demon, Iris goes in for the kill.

True to form, the horror element in the book leaves an open door to uncertainty. A year later everything seems back to normal in Iris's family. Until a crow seems drawn to his 1-year-old.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great artwork. Solid story-telling. It’s a nice little horror worth the read.

[Scott Waldie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this. The covers and artwork are great, I liked the idea of the monster, but it's all in all a very tidy, straightforward revenge horror and I thought there were a few details that could have been great twists, yet were abandoned. I thought there were some lazily formed characters, like Eric, wheres Elijah the moonshine mystic was so cool I would rather they wrote the whole series about him. This was only six issues, so I couldn't expect much, and it was respectable. Just a couple added twists would have really driven it home.

[Daniel Kovacs Rezsuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique drama-horror with themes of PTSD, the consequences of war and revenge, held back by mediocre art that looked rushed ( or at least, sloppy), even though it read like a six issue limited series from the very beginning and not an ongoing cut short due to underwhelming sales. The creature design, for example, is conceptually innovative, but the realized artwork looks awkward with no physicality to it at all. The core issue though was the wonky character designs and facial artwork of the human characters, who, for the lack of a better word, could not act their scenes out with the limited expressions the artist was able to portray them with. The atmosphere of the Appalachian setting is kind of lost as well, because the backgrounds are not much better either. The story doesn't get completely ruined though, Shawn Albridge's tale came through with flying colors.

[danny · Rating 3 out of 5]

i had no idea what this comic was going to be about so it was definitely a surprise when it turned out to be about war, ptsd, guilt, etc. can't say i was disappointed though, i really liked the way the way they chose to talk about it, unfortunately you don't see this way of thinking too often. though i feel like the message they were trying to give was kind of overshadowed by the fact that they made the bad guy a person from the middle east yet again (even if it was because she was possessed). i liked the story, it was pretty original and the art was great! kinda wish it was a bit longer so we could've gotten to know the characters more in depth since sadly we only got to know iris on a more personal level

[Syon · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARTWORK - 9/10

STORY - 7.5/10

WRITING - 7/10

OVERALL - 7.8/10

[Elaine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hate the cover but enjoyed the book

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story and artwork.

[Ushnav Shroff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh I fucking loved it.

[Sara Vogt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything about this story enchanted me and the story also had some great lessons to tell.

There’s war, Appalachia magick, moonshine, & a solid family.

[Darren-lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 - Really good...

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ominous and heart wrenching.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very creepy and dark !

[Catriona Kelch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was rereading all six issues

[Patricia Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the story. The monster was interesting, creepy, and sympathetic at times. The artwork was really cool.