Strange Embrace

Strange Embrace #1-8

by David Hine

For the first time in trade paperback, Active Images presents David Hine's tortured modern gothic tale of madness, death and sexual longing. The world of Strange Embrace is one of pain and sorrow, obsession and damnation -- a world that twists and pollutes the lives of all that enter it.

Readers who like FROM HELL, SANDMAN, HELLBLAZER and Gothic Murder Mysteries will also enjoy STRANGE EMBRACE.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Horror, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Gothic, Sequential Art

208 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Mel]

First, let me say that this story was pretty weird. It wasn't really that scary, but it was disturbing, especially as it got close to the end. I had to deduct a star because I thought the very last panels were a bit convoluted. This comic was done in entirely black and white and I have to say I thought it really worked with the weird twilight zone on magic mushrooms vibe. I didn't like the drawing style at first, but it kind of grew on me as I went through the story. In the end, I have to say the art really fit and I ended up liking it.

This is not for the faint of heart, as it is filled with some perverted mean spirited sex stuff that is more likely to give someone the creeps than put them in the mood. I liked this though. It was creepy and fun and different. The writing was good and the art was well done. The only reason this did not make my best reads pile because the story had kind of a rushed ending in the last few panels. Anyway, all in all an enjoyable read that was super weird.

[Bill Hsu]

Reread. This was originally published around '93. I know it's a neo-Victorian gothic, and gets some rave reviews, but I find it clunky and old-fashioned. By the early 90s, there were many nuanced and enthusiastic conversations about non-Western art and body modifications. Strange Embrace's use of these themes (Corbeau is "seduced into depravity" when he sees his first African mask, and gets his kicks sticking sharp objects into his body) seems rather gimmicky to me. The multiple framing devices also seem unnecessarily verbose, with flimsy motivations (Sukumar runs his errands, meets the villainous Alex, who tells Corbeau's story). I love framing devices when they are well-executed, but they just seem to get in the way here.

There are some lovingly-detailed panels though (just google David Hine Strange Embrace). But I'm not a fan of the overtly distorted depictions of Alex and Corbeau; I'd much prefer something more naturalistic, like for the other characters. It's clear from the beginning that they are unpleasant people; I don't need to be beaten over the head.

[Artur Coelho]

Entre o gótico e o grotesco, não há bondade nesta história de terror onde se cruzam um sociopata com capacidades telepáticas e o velho dono de uma loja de antiguidades, sexualmente reprimido, incapaz de ter relações normais com familiares e mulher, e que vive fascinando por estatuária africana. Uma família tortuosa, um suicídio, e uma imagem mental que o telepata quer à força arrancar para completar o puzzle formam esta história inquietante. O estilo gráfico é tenebroso e fortemente reminiscente do expressionismo alemão do século XX, cheio de contrastes e linhas cortantes.

[P.]

I feel like I need to instate a "tawdry" shelf for this one. Although I'm not sure why the description say s FOR MATURE READERS - this is no worse than many of the dark comics written for adults. it's a nested story fueled on melodrama and a Dark Secret that causes our proxy protagonist to become obsessed with the worldview he reads in his collection of African statues and masks - his story is told via a telepath who has a collection of dead people. he's telling the story to a delivery boy whose family's shop has the misfortune of supplying the protag's groceries every week. Hine's art is built on strong shadows and thick black lines, especially in intense moments. He plays on the theme of the African masks in his character designs and facial expressions as well, building in the emotion and the ...leitmotif(?) that way, and this adds an extra dimension of harshness and foreboding to what might otherwise be an over the top story of a seriously dysfunctional family (with a layer of effed up paranomral boarder on top). If you've read the adaptations of Lovecraft and been disappointed, this one would be for you. it's more original and has more ins to connecting with the people in the story. I think using human folly as the crux of the shocking content adds to the story in the way that tentacled otherworldy gods cannot.

[Jeff Morgan]

Wow. This story is really well done, but man, it’s disturbing.

While on a delivery to an antiquities dealer named Corbeau, young Sukumar is abducted and drugged by a ghostly looking figure named Alex, who claims to be a psychic. Alex claims to also be a collector of stories. He then proceeds to tell Sukumar the wicked saga of Anthony Corbeau.

There’s religious torture, rape, abortion, suicide, murder. It’s all here.

This series is well done but I probably wouldn’t ever read it again.

[Amanda]

After a bit of a slow start this was a wuick, disturbing and thrilling read. Not exactly the art style I usually like, but it fit the story so well I didn't mind.

[Kris43]

I can't believe that this is a comics book! Don't get me wrong, I harbor no prejudice against comics, I love them. It's just that I so rarely stumble upon one with such intense and compact story as this one! So I wasn't expecting it. By the end of it, I had a feeling I've been reading a 2000 pages epic, not a comics book.

There are layers and layers of story line here almost none of it good for the characters and enough twists to make you wonder what will they have to endure next?!! This story in deeply twisted, sick and disturbing and not always in a pleasant way. I think I'll need a few days to shake off the unsettled feeling that lingers...

Its hard to describe the story. In its basics it's about one little boy who is unloved and ignored, has amazing, sinister powers and endless appetite for cruelty. He is a collector, of sorts...He reminded me of the Devil! If you wonder why, wait until you find out how he goes about collecting his 'stuff'.

The artwork is also interesting. At first glance, it looks very crude and simplistic, not much details. So at first, I thought its not so good. I soon changed my mind when the first major dream-scape twist occurred, the whole artwork came into focus with disturbing clarity, so full of sharp edges... Amazing!

[E.]

Silence.
Pure Silence after finishing this book.
You are taken for a very interesting journey that makes you believe the world we live in,at the moment, is a utopia. Honestly the artistry of this graphic novel is superb, somehow it's creepy styling conveys the true atrocity of everything that is taking place. Everyone in that novel is hard to look at, but somehow it comes across as beautiful. Just wow. I heard about it from comicbookgirl19 on youtube and I am glad that I ordered it. I did get an autographed copy from someone who no longer needed it, and I am satisfied. I am not into horror but this was worth it. However...the ending could have been better, it just felt blah. The build up is the best part and it pretty much makes up for the ending. In the end I loved it.

[Victoria]

Ryan recommended this to me, saying it was one of the craziest graphic novels he had ever read. Boy was he right. The story was very intense and unexpected, and leaves you with chills. I don't really know what to say about it, other than that it is the story of a very messed up family, told through a very strange lens.... I recommend for anyone to check it out, but note that it's definitely not light reading.

[Marissa]

A very dark and fairly compelling graphic novel about a sadistic telepath and an intensely dysfunctional family. I enjoyed it, even if it got somewhat overwrought in patches and one of the centerpieces of the narrative, African tribal masks and statuary, is used in a quasi-offensive and simplistic way.

[Eli]

Really dark and creepy. I didn't realize just how much it had affected me until I started having dreams about it that night! eek! Not good before-bed reading for sure. Though I think that just goes to show how good it is. I've never been so creeped out by comic before. So if you like the weird and disturbing, it's definitely worth picking up.

[Russell Willis]

I worked with David Hine to create the definitive edition of Strange Embrace for SEQUENTIAL. This new version contains audio commentary by Dave for each and every page, productions sketches, an interview conducted by Paul Gravett, an academic article on the book + the whole 150-page initial script. More details here.

http://store.sequential.cc/catalogue/...

[Old-Barbarossa]

Twisted stuff.
Like the folks from Spongebob read too much of Lovecraft's non-mythos stuff (the Hound, Terrible Old Man etc) and then went to a fetish club before writing and illustrating this.
Ultimately a bit of an unsatisfying ending but a very creepy journey to get there.

[Hugo]

Wonderfully compact, dense storytelling, and beautifully unsettling art, combine to tell a twisted tale of family and madness. Didn't quite pull together at the end as I was expecting, but certainly was a great journey on the way.

[gradedog]

Very strange indeed. Gripping story. Fascinating and creepy. Jarring artwork adds to the twisted plot. Story went to a place I could not see coming. On the down side, it ended rather abruptly after a such a twisty and ghastly tale. Worth the read nonetheless.

[Peter]

Excellent art and a really intense story. Incredibly nihilistic and depressing as well, so avoid if you are looking for an up-lifting read!

[Derek Royal]

Re-read for my graphic novels reading group at the Frisco library. Nicely creepy. The end, though, still strikes me as too abrupt or underdeveloped.

[Rick Staten]

This story built and built but the ending was kind of flat.

[Briar]

I shiver each time I think of this comic. It was superbly written and drawn. Fantastic

[Tony]

Unsettling horror dripping with dread. Both the main story and the shorts are some of the best horror comics I've read.

[47Time]

Less horror and more psychological thriller, this story will likely mark even the most experienced horror fan. I would recommend not reading this one before bed. Sunlit mornings should be ok to offset the dark atmosphere of the story, the events and obsessions that destroy its characters' lives. The author uses the story within a story method to great effect. He has the characters go through inhumane hardships that would break weak and strong minds alike. The experience of reading this is too gruesome to explain.

Sukumar is living a nightmare. Each Friday he must deliver groceries to an Anthony Corbeau in whose shop there is a collection of African demon sculptures. He becomes obsessed with the sculptures that haunt his dreams. Until one day when a man named Alex Steadman who seems to be able to read his thoughts invites Sukumar to follow him to his collection of human stories. What follows is a tragedy of epic proportions. A family is destroyed by an affliction of the mind that ultimately leads to their demise.

Alex begins the story of his awful childhood. His parents didn't want him around and sent him to his grandfather who opened the boy's mind to his psychic abilities. A nightmare about a demon in his grandfather's soul ended with Alex killing his grandfather to 'save' him, though the coroner's report said it was cardiac arrest.

The next story is told by Sebastian, Alex's best friend in the school where his parents sent him off to. Alex tormented his colleagues with his mind reading. He got Sebastian to hang himself and was sent home. He hated the people around him, even his parents, and manifested his growing power on them. This led to more deaths. 

After killing his parents he left home. He met Anthony Corbeau, instantly developed an interest in him and began writing the latter's life story after reading his mind during the night. Anthony was isolated as a boy and had little rapport with his father Edward, also an antiques dealer. He stumbled onto an African artefact that became his obsession from then on.

Edward died before he can reveal that Anthony's mother was still alive, secretly institutionalized because of a mental disease. By this time Anthony's wife Sarah who was miserable in their one year of marriage from the neglect she experienced, ends her own life in most brutal fashion with a folding razor.

Alex wanted more information about Sarah, but Anthony's mind became impossible to read, so he resorted to reading Sarah's diary. She fell in love with Anthony after seeing his passion for African art and his behavior to her that was totally different from what she experienced with other men. She realises her mistake when Anthony refuses to touch her, barely speaks to her and spends most of his time with his obsession. Edward regrets allowing the two to marry. He tries to lift her spirits and develops a love for her. They start an affair that ends abruptly during an evening of drinking when Sarah sees Edward's true face. He rapes her, ruining any hope for her to be happy. Unfortunately, she becomes pregnant as a result.

Sarah visited Anthony's mother Agnes in the sanatorium, hoping to gain some understanding or support from her. Instead she found the reason for Anthony's behavior - he was tortured by his fanatical mother into loathing physical touch or sexuality. Agnes's doctor diagnosed her with siphilis and was certain Edward had it too. Sarah decided to punish him by slowly poisoning his food. The pregnancy was too advanced for an abortion, so she killed herself.

Alex still wanted to see dead Sarah's face through Anthony's memories. He found a picture in the police archives - Sarah mutilated her own face to match one of Anthony's carvings, then cut out her baby and died from blood loss. Anthony burned down his house and blaimed Alex for it, so now Alex kills Sukumar, carves his face like Sarah's so the police blame Anthony for it. Anthony kills himself before any police arrive and finds himself and Sukumar in Alex's collection of human stories.

[Pok Manero]

31 Days of Horror 2019

Tercer comic del mes:
Strange Embrace
David Hine
Tundra Publishing, 1993

Originalmente publicado por Tundra como una miniserie de cuatro números en 1993, diez años después fue recopilado por Active Images en un trade paperback y finalmente vio nueva vida cuando en 2007 Image Comics volvió a publicarlo, esta vez como una miniserie de ocho números y una recopilación en pasta dura. Independientemente del formato, es muy recomendable conseguir esta rareza pues se trata de uno de los comics más enfermos y perturbadores que he leído.

Como dice Peter Milligan en su introduccción, a esta obra le queda a la perfección el término de NOVELA gráfica pues incorpora una estructura literaria que casi no vemos en los comics. Cuenta historias dentro de historias, algunas de ellas desde distintas perspectivas (utilizando difererentes fuentes para cada personaje narrador). Con una estética que a ratos me recordó al mejor cine expresionista alemán, primero narra la historia de Alex, una especie de vampiro psíquico que se alimenta de las desgracias ajenas. Buscando el banquete definitivo, se obsesiona por conocer a fondo la historia de Arthur Corbeau y su familia: su padre Edward, su esposa Sarah y su madre Agnes. Al entrar de lleno en estas metanarrativas, se sumerge en una historia de principios de siglo plagada de locura, perversiones, religiosidad, inmundicia, abuso y dolor. Poco a poco, las cosas se van acumulando hasta generar un efecto inquietante en el lector. Y todo el tiempo se nos recuerda que Alex le está contando la historia al joven Sukumar, pues su narración tiene un propósito siniestro que se revela en las últimas páginas.

Es una obra redonda y sublime, aunque no es recomendable para gente de moral o estómago sensibles.

[Luis Diaz]

I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about this book. Initially the art attracted me. Some parts in the story was really interesting and great, but then other parts seem to feel more like soap opera. I do like the horror element of it all. Still there is something I enjoyed in the journey that I can't put my finger on it even with many unlikeable characters. Perhaps it's the fact that it reveals something about the dark parts of humanity. I believed all the characters, but the main guy. He was a bit too stylized and typical. Had he been less "evil looking" maybe it would all reveal itself a bit better. Like many people I felt the ending as abrupt and I thought there was another chapter left in there.

[Curtis]

I really, really enjoyed this. I found basically every minute of it to be good reading. I'm sure I could pick a few holes in it if I wanted to but it was just such a refreshing book overall that I don't want to. The art is good but the writing is exceptional.

I found myself really drawn in by the story and actually felt quite horrified by some of the more dramatic moments, which indicates how much I was enjoying it as this is something that only tends to happen if I really feel engaged with the story.

I liked it so much that I looked forward to reading it before bed each night, I've recommended it to my girlfriend and I'm tempted to buy it for my sister for Christmas, so take that as a testament to how much I enjoyed it.

[Batmark]

Plotted like a 19th-century gothic novel, this comic contains a handful of nested stories of some deeply flawed (and a few deeply evil) characters.

All the hallmarks of a spooky story from 150 years ago are within these pages: a young innocent taken hostage (to serve as the reader's stand-in), a cruel villain with supernatural powers of influence, a young woman trapped in a loveless marriage, another woman living in a mental asylum, a mysterious central figure, an obsession with "exotic" artifacts from another land, a gothic mansion, child abuse, spousal abuse, murder, and so on. The worst offenses (rape) are committed by the most banal of characters (the awful father-in-law).

For fans of Alan Moore's earlier horror works, such as Swamp Thing.

[Justin Labelle]

One hell of a ride.
Strange Embrace is an odd, dark, tragic tale of a young boy, a mad mother, a crazed man and bad timing.
If you like Valerie and Her Week of Wonders, Victorian ghost stories or Wytches, it's worth a visit.
This is a coloured version of a black and white comic so I can't comment on update, but I can say the colours are muted and done with consistent intent.
A worthwhile experience.

[Romano]

Es un texto que estuve evadiendo durante años debido a un infundado rechazo a David Hine [Probablemente derivado de su trabajo en algunos arcos de Crossed: Badlands].
Es un relato con una estructura dramática sólida, centrada en el mundo interior de los personajes, en su inicio parecería una historia centrada en estructuras sobrenaturales, pero finalmente es un tratado sobre la maldad cotidiana.

[Thresk]

An original gem, late to be recognized.
★★★★☆

[Terry McFadden]

Great stylized moody art! But the "horror" which tries to say something about Edwardian sexual repression, etc. seems under-cooked.

[Robert]

Went in blind based on the author. You should do the same. Any attempt to describe or critique would only spoil the experience.