Crush

by Jason Hall, Sean Gordon Murphy (Illustrator)

In a world of subtle horrors, Elizabeth Mason is about to meet one monster she never counted on - herself. On the day of her 18th birthday Liz undergoes a strange metamorphosis which, for reasons unknown, causes her to transform into the monster called Crush! As if growing up isn't hard enough without that, Liz soon has to deal with a deadly, ruthless agent tailing her... with teenage werewolves. At least she has her best friend, Jen Tanaka, to count on. And what at first seems to be a curse may be the very thing that leads her to understand who she truly is.

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

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 8, 2004

About the author

There is more than one author with this name

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first problem with this is the story is the very over used plot that appears in works like The Craft, where it is frankly, better done.

The second problem is how the female teen characters are depicted. It feels like the only reason why the main character is 18 years old is so the book can escape a charge of sexualizing teens. Considering that every teen girl in the high school that the MC goes to is wearing pants or skirts that are cut so low that pubic hair would be showing if the ladies apparently hadn't shaved, this is strange. I fully support the idea that dress codes in schools are mostly about controlling what girls, in particular girls of color, wear, but I can't think of a single school that would allow the low cuts used by the girls in the book. And of course the MC is in bra and panties or nude quite a bit.

[Alex Sarll]

On her 18th birthday, the only alternative kid in a crappy small town gets given a spellbook by her one friend. And when she loses patience with the shitty parents who don't even remember what the day is, she tries a vengeance spell therein, unleashing a monster. But who are the real monsters? Aaaaah. There's an interesting angularity to the art, early Sean Murphy looking cleaner and more Deadline than his subsequent work (though that could also be down to some fairly blocky colouring), but the story doesn't get to excuse itself from how much it resembles other teen horror stories just because it lampshades that with an early reference to The Craft and a later one to Buffy. Overfamiliar elements are crammed on top of each other with little consideration for how they fit together, and ultimately wrapped up with a 'rocks fall, everyone dies', or near enough. Another one grabbed from the recent Dark Horse giveaway, and another reminder why I developed a general policy of not trying Dark Horse comics on spec in the way I might with a publisher such as Image, Boom! or Oni.

[Timothy Grubbs · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you get older, your body goes through a transformation…sometimes that’s literally monstrous…

Crush was an underrated miniseries I read many years ago…

Liz Mason is a young girl turning 18 in the small town of Lassiter. However, while dabbling in things she probably shouldn’t…she goes through a change…and her entire world shatters…

Like a high school version of Dr Jekyl and Mr Hyde, Liz Mason finds that whenever she bleeds she transforms into a being called Crush…powerful bug and not willing to put up with other people’s shit…

Assisted only by her best friend and her best friend’s brother, she finds herself the target of a conspiracy linked to such “special children”, the mystery of her parents, and just how to live with someone else sharing her body…

This does a lot of set up an interesting story…and it really stinks there wasn’t more of this…

[John Funderburg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Woof, this one is pretty rough. Cliche, derivative story with almost zero intrigue. I picked this up because I wanted to catch some of Murphy's earlier illustrations. His style has definitely improved over time, but it's fun to see the progress.

[Lawrence Dortch · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just okay not bad not good just okay.

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

"...I know it sounds all 'Buffy.'"

Yes. Yes it does. Far too much like "Buffy" for my taste.

[Tamora Pierce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a smashing (literally) read of a graphic novel, of a teenager with lousy parents who suddenly discovers her world is not what she thought it was--and neither is she. It's a Dark Horse comic, and sadly, it looks like the four books contained in this trade paperback are the only ones that were published. It's a shame, because I would have loved to see what she and her alter ego got into next!

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting start to a story, which seems like it may not have been continued. An inner demon, government agent, destruction of home and the only family she's known. A lot of angst, and wondering what and who she is.

For the older YA audience, lots of violence and that stuff.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

saw this pulled off the shelf and figured i would read it to see who it was appropriate for. i ended up really liking it and am thinking about seeing if there are more in the series so i can see where it goes. it is appropriate for all my student.

[Jamie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Great to see early Sean Murphy art, but the writing was too slick and pedestrian.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was interesting enough to read, but nothing special or great. I might look for volume 2, but not all that hard.

[J. Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best read and leaves you hanging... But Sean Murphy is a really good artist! This is his earlier work but check out "Joe the Barbarian", "Hellraiser", "Off Road" and "American Vampire.

[Stephanie Chang · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lot of people die. Me no like.