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Taboo #4
Taboo #4
Taboo is a comics anthology edited by Steve Bissette, designed to feature edgier and more adult comics than those published through mainstream publishers. The series began as a horror anthology, but soon branched out into other genres as well.
This issue features work from Alejandro Jodorowsky & Mœbius, Neil Gaiman & Michael Zulli, Charles Vess, S. Clay Wilson, and Charles Burns, as well as the third chapter of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell.
This issue features work from Alejandro Jodorowsky & Mœbius, Neil Gaiman & Michael Zulli, Charles Vess, S. Clay Wilson, and Charles Burns, as well as the third chapter of Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell's From Hell.
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
168 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1990
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About the author
Stephen R. Bissette
264 books51 followersStephen R. Bissette is an American comics artist, editor, and publisher with a focus on the horror genre. He is best known for working with writer Alan Moore and inker John Totleben on the DC comic Swamp Thing in the 1980s.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 1, 2012
The great Taboo re-read continues with the best volume so far. This edition has a greater level of reprint material than the first three volumes, but don't worry: you probably didn't read the material before it appeared here and you likely haven't seen it since.
I'm not going to mention every piece in the book, but I'll call out the highlights. Taboo 4 opens with the excellent "Dreaming and the Law" by Phillip Hester, who does more in 2 pages than more can do in 20. Great piece, a bit rougher in style than Hester's later work, and all the better for it.
Charles Burns also gives us a short two-pager, less of a story than an anecdote. But it's cool stuff and leaves you with a real Burnsian vibe.
"Babycakes" by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli is perfectly done and taps into some really taboo territory (although it's nothing that wasn't done a few hundred years earlier by Jonathan Swift).
The best piece in the book is "Eyes of the Cat" by Moebius and Jodorowsky. I think I could write an entire essay on this exquisite piece of comics, but trust me, it's a stunner. Horrific and more than a little funny.
"Blue Angel" by Tim Lucas and Stephen Blue isn't so much a story as a fragment. It well drawn, but it showcases the problem with too many horror short stories: no room to breathe.
The Elaine Lee / Charles Vess reprints are just fantastic. Bissette's introduction sets up why the first of the two tales was so taboo when it first appeared just 8 years earlier.
Rick Grimes turns in some more utterly gonzo work. Moebius give us a fantastic cover. S. Clay Wilson does what he does best. And the rest stands up.
Great volume. Looking forward to continuing the re-read with book 5.
I'm not going to mention every piece in the book, but I'll call out the highlights. Taboo 4 opens with the excellent "Dreaming and the Law" by Phillip Hester, who does more in 2 pages than more can do in 20. Great piece, a bit rougher in style than Hester's later work, and all the better for it.
Charles Burns also gives us a short two-pager, less of a story than an anecdote. But it's cool stuff and leaves you with a real Burnsian vibe.
"Babycakes" by Neil Gaiman and Michael Zulli is perfectly done and taps into some really taboo territory (although it's nothing that wasn't done a few hundred years earlier by Jonathan Swift).
The best piece in the book is "Eyes of the Cat" by Moebius and Jodorowsky. I think I could write an entire essay on this exquisite piece of comics, but trust me, it's a stunner. Horrific and more than a little funny.
"Blue Angel" by Tim Lucas and Stephen Blue isn't so much a story as a fragment. It well drawn, but it showcases the problem with too many horror short stories: no room to breathe.
The Elaine Lee / Charles Vess reprints are just fantastic. Bissette's introduction sets up why the first of the two tales was so taboo when it first appeared just 8 years earlier.
Rick Grimes turns in some more utterly gonzo work. Moebius give us a fantastic cover. S. Clay Wilson does what he does best. And the rest stands up.
Great volume. Looking forward to continuing the re-read with book 5.
December 23, 2020
This huge issue is anchored by a long, atmospheric Jodorowsky/Moebius piece, and a chapter from Moore/Campbell's "In Hell". The detail in Moebius' art is just gorgeous.
The rest is very mixed, mostly short forgettable miniatures. There's a 2-page Phil Hester piece, interesting but not as striking as his later contribution in Taboo #9.
The rest is very mixed, mostly short forgettable miniatures. There's a 2-page Phil Hester piece, interesting but not as striking as his later contribution in Taboo #9.
November 2, 2021
Like all collections a mixed bag and some of these haven't aged well but there's darkness and taboo throughout this horror collection with big names like Moore, Moebius, Sim, Gaiman and Jodorowsky providing some highlights.
April 29, 2023
Perhaps the greatest of the Taboo series, mostly due to insane roster of creators that are featured here. Moore and Campbell return for another chapter of From Hell, and are joined alongside by Phil Hester, Dave Sim, Charles Burns, Neil Gaiman, Michael Zulli,D'Israeli, Molly Eyre, Andrew Rowbottom, Mark Askwith, Richad Taylor, Moebius, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Spain Rodriguez, S. Clay Wilson, P. Foerster, Tim Lucas, Stephen Blue, Elaine Lee, Charles Vess, L. Roy Aiken and Mike Hoffman. Everyone brings their A game.
The east standout of course is "The Eyes of the Cat" story by Moebius & Jodorowsky, which I've previously read and reviewed before. It's a great horror piece, mostly due to the subdued nature of the script that just lets Moebius' artwork do the heavy lifting.
Other great stories in here include Gaiman's & Zulli's "Babycakes", Spain's few pages illustrating Jodo's El Topo film, and Lucas' & Blue's "Blue Angel". The many other pieces by S. Clay Wilson and Rick Grimes are great as well, perfect for the nature of stories that are meant to fit into an issue of Taboo.
The east standout of course is "The Eyes of the Cat" story by Moebius & Jodorowsky, which I've previously read and reviewed before. It's a great horror piece, mostly due to the subdued nature of the script that just lets Moebius' artwork do the heavy lifting.
Other great stories in here include Gaiman's & Zulli's "Babycakes", Spain's few pages illustrating Jodo's El Topo film, and Lucas' & Blue's "Blue Angel". The many other pieces by S. Clay Wilson and Rick Grimes are great as well, perfect for the nature of stories that are meant to fit into an issue of Taboo.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews