Human Remains: The Complete Series

Human Remains #1-8

by Peter Milligan, Sally Cantirino (Artist), Dearbhla Kelly (Colorist)

Alien meets A Quiet Place in this science fiction tale of terror for fans of Josh Malerman’s Bird Box and Tim Lebbon’s The Silence about a post-apocalyptic world in which monsters hunt the things that make us human – where feeling is a dangerous thing.

Live. Laugh. Love. Scream.
DIE.
Dax and Bisa love each other. But in this new and terrifying world, love is dangerous. Feeling anything is dangerous. Love. Hate. Joy. Fear. Any of these in strong doses will bring a swift death. Earth has a new and terrible invader — monsters that smell the scent of emotion, salivate over the prey, and hunt the very feelings that make us human.

A shocking tale of pent-up emotions and forced composure in the face of unspeakable horror…from one of the most celebrated writers in comics, Peter Milligan ( X-Force, Enigma , Shade the Changing Man, Hellblazer, Human Target ) and breakout horror artist Sally Cantirino ( I Walk With Monsters; Door to Door, Night by Night; The Final Girls ).

Collects the entire eight-issue series.

"Horror fans who like their scares balanced with a human touch are likely to dig this one." -- Publishers Weekly

"I read this at a gasp, horrifed by the bloody events as much as the too-familiar feel of a society self-destructing--even before the monsters come. A palpitating whirlwind of a start." -- Daniel Kraus ( New York Times bestselling author of The Shape of Water, Trollhunters,The Teddies Saga , and Vault Comics' The Autumnal )

"As brilliant and incisive as ever, Peter Milligan questions what makes us human, and what motivates us to make the terrible decisions we inevitably make.” -- Kieron Gillen ( Uncanny X-Men, Eternals; The Wicked + The Divine; Once & Future)

"Human Remains might be the scariest Vault series to date." – Gate Crashers

“a brutal, visceral, soul crushing world where the barest hint of emotion can lead to a violent and bloody death.” - Multiversity Comics

Genres: Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Graphic Novels Comics

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2022

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.

He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.

His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.

Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).

Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix

Reviews

[Sadie Forsythe · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a little while to digest Human Remains. I finished with a feeling of, "Welp, that's a thing I've read now." I don't know that I could have even said if it all came around to a salient point or not. However, as I sat on the experience a little while and thought on it, I decided that it did. (Of course it did.)

It's gory and touches on any number of heavy, trauma-inducing subjects. (I think a trigger warning wouldn't be out of place for this one.) But watching as the characters slowly move from shocked and horrified to numb and blasé in the face of countless deaths is poignant. (Can I say a book with roughly 2 million panels of humans being violently dismembered was poignant?) But what does it mean to be human, how much will we give up to remain human, how much can we change and still be human are all important and thought-provoking questions this graphic novel seeks to answer.

I did think it took a long time to come around to those points and a few of the devices used to make them were a little ham-handed. But all in all I'll call this one a success.

[Damian Herde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Conceptually, ‘Human Remains’ is great - a sudden influx of skull-headed, insectoid, inter dimensional creatures with mouth tentacles that are summoned by strong emotion and rip apart the offender. There is much to like, but overall it fell a little flat.
A diverse cast of characters, although predominantly just in the USA, are shown moving through their various tragedies while the characters around them act the way we saw happen through Covid.
Some interesting story arcs are set up around interactions and understanding of the creatures, but are left unresolved. The art was not a style I enjoyed, and I wasn’t thrilled by the creature design.

[For The Novel Lovers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
Title: Human Remains: The Complete Series by Dearbhla Kelly, Peter Milligan & Sally Cantirino
Genre: Graphic Novel, Horror
Rating: 4.5 Stars
Western graphic novels don’t tend to work for me but I read one last month and it was good despite being a little confusing in places so I was hopeful for Human Remains. The opening to Human Remains was interesting as we are introduced to an Earth which has been invaded by creatures that kill people when they display emotions but it only does it in public places meaning they are safe within their homes. We see how this start when we meet our protagonists, Dax and Bisa as they are getting married and the creature invades but they survive. We also learn that the creature whatever it is ignores people under the age of 5 so children are safe from it but everyone else has had to learn to reign in all their emotions to the point where some people just can’t contain it any longer and willingly accept death in order to express themselves.
The story itself wasn’t anything overly complex but it did delve into the mindset of the people living with the arrival of this creature and what it does to people and how they survive through it. It isn’t about killing the monster or making it leave, even though they do capture it at one point in the story, it is more about the human survival aspect. Dax and Bisa were amazing characters but they aren’t the only characters we are following as we also follow a scientist and a priest during all this and see the various ways people are looking at the situation and how they are dealing with. The story is gory with lots of violent bloodshed because of these attacks but there are also light-hearted moments where we see people come together in ways that aren’t expected. I also really enjoyed the art style, while it wasn’t a style that I normally enjoy but it worked really well for the story it was telling. It also didn’t have a heavy dialogue element which seems to be very common in western graphic novels which I really enjoyed. Overall, Human Remains was an interesting story with a really nice art style and appealed greatly to the horror fan in me.

[Alex Sarll]

The premise of a world in which displays of emotion are forbidden reminded me of much-mocked Matrix knock-off Equilibrium, but the reason - 'orrible critters that erupt out of holes in space and messily eat those displaying feelings, especially in public - turns out to be more heavily indebted to A Quiet Place and Bird Box, not that I've actually seen either. But I am all too familiar with the other obvious influence here, namely the Event and the terrible, tense hush it imposed on the world. Although in this mirrored nightmare, denialist rallies don't really have chance to develop the same traction, what with the angry crowds being eaten. The story follows a mixture of regular folk with scientists and military types working to fight the incursions, and it's hardly a spoiler to say their lives then start to connect - indeed, sometimes the parallels feel clumsily neat. But if the writing doesn't bear comparison with Milligan's work when he was an underappreciated great, nor is it as half-baked as much of his more recent work. Or at least, not until the closing issues, when even basics like casualty figures can't stay consistent from one scene to another, and supporting characters flip-flop like mad in order to get the plot wrapped up. The art, alas, as often seems the case at Vault, is somewhere between indie minimalism and just not quite ready for prime time, although at least the monsters look suitably horrific, a visage to hate for ruining the world in a way our own timeline's nondescript microscopic equivalents never had the decency to offer.

[Celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

An allegory for the pandemic, society even before and what we could become. Serious violence, abuses, domestic abuse, assault, death, use of hallucinogenic drugs and other triggers. Perversely ugly and beautiful all at once.

[Erikka · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was exceptional satire. When a plague of creatures begins destroying people who express emotion, a lot of different attempts are made to stop them. Is it the work of a virologist with nothing left to lose? Is it something yet another pill can stop? And of course there’s always religion. The commentary on the human condition is awesome. The only thing I didn’t like is that the art style made several characters look very similar, which made following conversations challenging.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very interesting read and concept. The graphics were great and the different story lines within the graphic novel were great as well. Fun read.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine living in a world where you can't express yourself unless you want to be devoured by an alien. In this new world, deadly alien invaders attack and kill humans who display emotions. The aliens hunt humans and everyday life for humans has become a nightmare. People are living on the edge and afraid of everything.

The book has similarities to how people reacted during the pandemic in the early years. The graphic novel showed people acting hysterically, hiding behind their faith, or being just plain ignorant. It showed how scientists and the military were at odds with each other instead of coming together for the common good.

The graphic novel was a fun and interesting read. The artwork was beautifully done and had diverse characters. The story was engaging as it showed different character perspectives. It was interesting seeing how different characters reacted and adapted to the alien invaders. If you like horror graphic novels, then you might enjoy this one.

[Ανδρέας Μιχαηλίδης · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are definitely things I don't like about this comic, like the fact that the story never explains itself and opts to remain a mix of pedantry and pandemic allegory, at the same time lacking any sort of subtlety.

Yet, for all that, it does present decent, if mostly misanthropic characterization, and makes valid criticism of the modern world. It is very important that the characters are engaging and their stories interesting to watch as they unfold, as that is the main driving force behind the story. Much like they were intended, the monsters are basically an "environmental" calamity. They don't really have an agenda. Might as well be actual, though mindless demons that simply force a change on humanity, very similar to Bird Cage.

There is something unsatisfying about the whole thing, but there is no denying the comic is well executed, with an interesting, easy to read pseudo-retro feel to its art.

[Christopher Schmoeckel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Things I didn't like: A generic horror story where monsters from another dimension have come to earth but they only attack when...this time around it's any time humans show strong emotions. This can be happy or sad or angry or whatever, if you make too much noise with your emotions a rift opens and a Lovecraftian tentacled creature comes to kill you. The rules on this are loosely defined, some people are able to show emotions or be in a safe room, some are not able to escape it this way.

Things I liked: A multi-cultural cast of characters. Art and dialogue were good. Self contained story, I always appreciate a graphic novel that has a concise beginning, middle and end.

[Whatcha Reading Heather? · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t quite attach to any of the characters like I normally would in a comic/graphic novel. However, I’m willing to give that a pass because this story is about the overall human population’s response to what pretty much becomes an illustrated allegory for the worst parts of the Covid-19 timeframe. I’ve been super weary of any type of work that puts the pandemic (or a version of it) at the forefront of the plot, but this does an amazing job at using horror elements to showcase what we as humans experienced without making me feel like this is overtly a Covid book.

[GNmanganerd · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started off very strong, like opening pages get you hooked but the last few issues overstated its welcome and goes downhill from there..still a good series to read once..

[Olivia-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cool, loved the art style! Commentary on the pandemic and in the ways as a world we’ve become numb to trauma and tragedies. Not very dialogue heavy but the point is clear.

[Lydia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever read.

Please.

Read it.

[Joshua Sloan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending felt rushed and a few plot points were kind of tossed aside, but the moment-to-moment experience was great.

[Telana · Rating 4 out of 5]

very gory, but i loved how all the little storylines connected

[The Litt Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out the full review over at The Litt Librarian! https://thelittlibrarian.wixsite.com/...

The graphic was okay. I didn't know what to expect from the story but judging from the synopsis; I thought it was going to be about a newlywed couple trying to survive some Bird Box/A Quiet Place apocalypse whilst in love. There are monsters unaliving people for showing too much emotion, which sounded like survival of the fittest.

I rated it 3 stars. The story was meant to show how people deal with catastrophic events and how humans cope with extreme trauma. It's a quick read, not so much "scary" horror, but the imagination can run wild with this one.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Huge shrimp monsters are portalling in and destroying any person with heightened emotions. This is understandably causing worldwide trauma as you have to keep calm even as you see people ripped apart right in front of you. Even though this is 8 issues there are some subplots that get dropped before they are resolved. The art isn't all that detailed, sometimes making it difficult to tell characters apart.