Refrigerator Full Of Heads #1

Refrigerator Full Of Heads #1

DC Black Label/Hill House Comics 2021

Written by Rio Youers

Illustrated by Tom Fowler

Coloured by Bill Crabtree

Lettered by Andworld Design

Hill House Comics is back and heads are going to roll for making readers wait! The new wave of titles begins with a rancid return trip to bloody Brody Island. For a year now, the mysterious axe that unleashed pandemonium during the hurricane of ’83 has waited at the bottom of the bay but nothing that powerful stays buried. Brody Island has new visitors, and a new sheriff in town, too-not to mention a dangerous great white shark spotted in its waters-and when vacationing couple Calvin Beringer and Arlene Fields find themselves on the wrong side of Brody’s unsavory elements, their beachcombing will turn up something a lot sharper than sea glass… Crime novelist Rio Youers joins forces with artist Tom Fowler to unleash a gonzo grindhouse expansion on the lore of the original Basketful of Heads!

Welcome back to Brody Island where it would seem it's the same stuff on a different day and I have to admit it’s kind of nice to see this play out in such a similar fashion as the original one did. A robbery with a very specific object in mind and well it isn’t the axe but it appears to be connected to that and as the story continues things really get underway and it’s glorious.

I really like the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceptionally well. The character development that we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter really does wonders in establishing the personalities of the characters we see. The pacing is excellent and as it takes us through the pages introducing us to the story, the characters and the world they inhabit we really get to see just how messed up Brody Island is.

I appreciate the way that we see this being structured and how the layers within the story emerge, grow and strengthen. I like how we see the layers open up avenues here and that some just are and others will be explored and regardless they all add this great depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is extremely well achieved.

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The interiors here are bloody fabulous. Yes it’s a classic comics style approach but the linework is strong, clean and crisp and how the varying weights and techniques are being utilised to create the detail within the work that we see is exceptional work. I want to see more backgrounds but that being said they do enhance and expand the moments beautifully. They also work within the composition of the panels to bring out the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to this story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work really shows a great understanding of how colour works.

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There are so many different moments that create different aspects to this story and they all are so interesting that it almost becomes difficult to know where you want to go next. The writer and her husband, more than meets the eye, the axe, the robbery or the cops that are investigating that robbery. What do I wanna see first next issue? Oh and Brody Island and sharks always makes me giggle. I’m in, intrigued, invested and involved in what’s going on here and this is thanks to the stellar writing, characterisation and these bloody gorgeous interiors.