Hellraiser: The Road Below

by Brandon Seifert, Haemi Jang (Artist)

Kirsty Cotton has gone from a human resisting the forces of Hell, to the ruler of light in the darkest of places. Shortly after becoming Hell's Priestess, she was called to New Orleans by a holder of the LeMarchand Device -- a woman looking to end a decades-long family feud by any means necessary... Writer Brandon Seifert (WITCH DOCTOR, HELLRAISER: THE DARK WATCH) and internationally acclaimed artist Haemi Jang unite to tell the story of the first time Kirsty Cotton was called to Earth as the new Pinhead. This collected edition of the hit mini-series reveals Kirsty's first days in Hell, and how the road there is always paved with good intentions.

Genres: Comics, Horror, Graphic Novels, Demons, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Supernatural

112 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 21, 2013

Reviews

[Lukas Sumper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was hellraiser!? I guess so, just very soft and even cute how this delves into the relationship of a single mom and her rebellious teenage daughter. :3 I have a hard time calling this horror... its bordering on a being a adventure fantasy with a revenge plot. Still an entertaining story and a nice spin off if you don't mind the genre switch. The art is by far the highlight of this, out of the BOOM! released hellraiser stuff probably among the best.
The art safes this for me. 4.0 out of 5.0 stars

[Ill D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun little read.

It's definitely the most anime influenced Hellraiser comic (that I've read at least) with clear allusions to the seminal, Ninja Scroll. A story brimming with betrayal and the vengeance it entails surges forth the very power that courses through the anime-style energy pulses that suffuse the second half of the collection. Kirsty Cotton as the reformed PinHead makes appearances as does the Female Cenobite.

[Mirnes Alispahić · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little weird piece of graphic novel is a mishmash of Barker's ideas and influences with a bit of Gaiman's Sandman. It's not horror, but more of a dark urban fantasy piece which would be more interesting if it wasn't that whole Kristy Cotton Pinhead thing and representation of it. Just can't get use to it no matter how I tried. Ages old enemies, feud between dreams and nightmares, revenge story and new Hell Priest caught in the middle of it.

[Myk Pilgrim · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd read 2019:
Continuing my hellish reading binge, a re-read of Hellraiser The Road Below from Boom Studios comics.


*SPOILERS*
The road below isn't my favourite of the bunch but that said, it was cool to see Kirsty actually leaning into her new position in the pit.
I would very much have liked to see more of her in this capacity, she makes for an interesting pinhead.


1st read 2016:
Hellraiser is fast becoming one of my favourite horror comic series. (alongside Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft, Harrow County, Vol. 1: Countless Haints & Outcast, Vol. 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him ) Kirsty's pinhead is a compelling character who adds a whole new (excuse the pun) dimension to the cenobites. I can't wait to see what she does next.

[Mel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was by far the most interesting of the Hellraiser stories so far. It felt more like a Sandman story as there were mythological creatures in battle with each other, neither quite on the side of good or evil. There was a woman doing whatever she could to protect her daughter, who turned out not to need her protection but empowered herself to defeat the bad all on her own. There were no easy answers, all shades of grey, normally these comics are just about bad people, and worse people, so this was a nice alternative to that. It was also almost entirely a story about women, two female cenobites and the mother and daughter being 4 of the five main characters. It was nice to see the universe expanded a bit and the way things were handled made it a much more personal and interesting story that the end of the world stuff from the previous issue. It was a nice reboot that I think the series really needed.

[Leila Anani · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirsty, now a Cenobite comes to collect a woman who opened the box only to find she is a demon hunter and wants to make a trade.

I wasn't particularly taken by the story in this one. It lacks for want of a better word... weird.

What I did really like however is the female focus - the two human protagonists are a mother and daughter and all the cenobites depicted are female- We have Deepthroat (from Hellraiser I & 2) and a pinhead Kirsty... I like how she introduces vulnerability and humanity into these hell-monks. The other thumbs up for me is introducing Harry D'Amour at the end - Widening the Hellraiser mythos to encompass some of Barker's other work.

The bonus content includes various cover art - Check out the Nick Percival ones, they are gorgeous!

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Supposedly a "perfect jumping on point for new readers," this actually makes little sense if you (like me) haven't been keeping up with the past few years of Hellraiser comics. The story itself is okay, while the art shows few storytelling chops. There's little original or memorable in this volume.

[Dave Farrance · Rating 4 out of 5]

So so. A 3.5 from me for this one.

This collection carries on the previous path from the Clive Barker’s Hellraiser series, and we see Pinhead Kirsty get called to Earth (apparently for the first time) and she uses her fluffy ribbons to drag a woman back to hell. This womans family have a blood feud going on with some other strange race of creatures and these creatures are after her daughter. The daughter decides to become a cenobite in order to kill the creatures and send her Mum back from hell. It all seemed a bit odd, but it was interesting.
I wasn’t mad keen on the artwork, but the cover artwork was great! I really don’t care for Kirsty as an almost too angelic cenobite. Pinhead has always had some really deep lines of speech which really made the character feel eerie. Pinhead Kirsty on the other hand just seems too normal and not demonic at all, which I guess is the point they’re trying to make but it just seems to have softened up the cenobites too much for my liking. It’s less horror, more chick flick.

Still, that’s just my feeling towards it. It’s still worth a read!

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Spin-off yang menarik, walaupun cuman 4 issue tetapi melihat Kirsty sebagai new ruler for hell ternyata menarik juga wkwk. POV cerita diambil dari pihak keluarga yang mencoba memanggil Cenobites dan berusaha membuat perjanjian untuk menyelamatkan mereka dari kejaran monster.

Ceritanya twist and turn sih, karena ngeliat bahwa baik kedua pihak yang memanggil Kirsty sebenarnya punya sejarah masing2, dan di sini Kirsty harus berhadapan dengan dilemma apakah harus ia menyelamatkan hidup seorang manusia? Ataukah pilihannya untuk menyeret mereka ke neraka adalah pilihan yang salah? So yeah di sini diuji di area abu-abu.

Tapi agak kaget dan kurang cocok sih menurut gw kalau tiba2 ada manusia yang punya kekuatan supernatural di dunia Hellraiser kek kurang cocok aja sih, walaupun keberadaan sihir dan sigil masih oke aja menurut gw.

[Josh Burkey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kirsty Cotton is probably my favorite final girl of all time. I absolutely love the idea of her becoming Pinhead within the BOOM! Studios comic era. I think it really took the political ideas of hell presented in The Scarlett Gospels and expanded them. While Barker isn't in the driver's seat here for the writing, Brandon Seifert presents good ideas but not a memorable execution. These four issues demonstrate that Kirsty is a different Pinhead than Elliot and that's not a bad thing. Just doesn't make for such compelling storytelling. This limited series also seems like it was trying to cross the traditional Hellraiser with Barker's other property, . Again, great ideas but don't always land.

[Addam Dallman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great edition to the series

Hellraiser The Road Below is a great read as well as being loyal to the series. The story and plot flowed really well. I enjoyed the characters as well as seeing Christy as a cenobite again. The artwork was really well done and very grim and dark as one would expect from the Hellraiser series. All in all I would recommend Hellraiser The Road Below to anyone who is a fan of the Hellraiser mythos.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the Hellraiser series as a movie, and now I'm even more excited to read more of the graphic novels, besides this one.

[Francesca Giardiello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Favoloso tuffo nel mondo ideato da Clive Barker, che fedelissimo a sé stesso, continua a intessere atmosfere dark che i lettori non dimenticheranno mai.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this collection. Short and sweet but still felt like a complete story and not too rushed. Free with Comixology Unlimited.

[Travis James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

I always loved the idea of Kirsty becoming a Cenobite and this graphic novel is perfect for that! Definitely gets five *****'s from me!!!!

[Francesco Floris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disegni incredibili, wow. La storia purtroppo meno, non regge il confronto con la freschezza di idee che l'ip aveva di suo.

[CHRISTOPHER RYMAN · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hell 2.0 Here we go…!

Wow this was an unexpected but excitingly great addition and continuation for the Hellraiser saga. You’ll love it or it will love you!

[Jesse A · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looked but didnt feel very Hellraiser.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gory and very weird but I liked it!
Left feeling confused and not totally understanding the plot (vol 2 to come)

I do kind of understand what's happening: some evil guy killed this woman's husband and she then killed his wife in front of him so he wants to kill her daughter in front of her and the demons on the evil side realise that he's a mental bastard and they were brainwashed and mislead and side with the humans who aren't really human because they have bat shit crazy magic

Graphic novels have there pros and cons: they're so short and quick to read that you only get 10% of the details and have to guess the rest of the plot

I would loan volume two from the library I wouldn't purchase this myself though as graphic novels are very expensive!!

I'm currently in a phase of trying out graphic novels from my local library so be prepared to see a lot on them for the next few weeks or so

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent idea, OK writing, variable but passable art. The writing could be a lot tighter on this - could have used another edit pass, or maybe a closer examination of the speech patterns and vocabulary that we've come to expect from the Cenobites. As it was, Kirsty Cotton and the Cenobite both talk in a loose, conversational way that doesn't fit the philosophical life or death pronouncements from even the movies (let alone the book). The Cenobite seemed too forgiving, and Kirsty Cotton seemed very unsure of herself, her intentions or her ability to win out. I'd like to follow this story further though, see if Siefert's writing gets sharper than "You must have been aware of the irony at the time."

[Edwin L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story: 3/5, Art: 4/5. If you’ve read as many Hellblazer comics as I have, then the story won’t be particularly original. Still enjoyed this look at Kirsty Cotton’s first “assignment” for her tenure in Leviathan’s hell. The art by Haemi Jang was rather excellent. Jang colors his thin line work with flat but very colorful colors. His storytelling is a little stilted but it’s not bad. A good standalone Hellraiser story.

[Sylvester · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brand new story continuing after Kirsty's transformation into the new Pinhead, she is summoned to New Orleans to resolve a decades long family feud between two supernatural families. Even though there were only 4 issues, the story was told comprehensively. I didn't like the art style, but it was still nicely drawn.

[Andy Haigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.geek-pride.co.uk/book-revi...

[Elengendro · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bastante mala

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty decent Hellraiser/Nightbreed tale. Nicely self-contained. Made more sense than some of the other titles from this series.