The House of Lost Horizons #3

The House of Lost Horizons #3

Dark Horse Comics 2021

Written by Chris Roberson

Illustrated by Leila Del Duca

Coloured by Michelle Madsen

Lettered by Clem Robins

Two bodies down . . . how many more to go? A raging storm keeps the group of occult collectors trapped on the island, but some of them appear to be more restless than others. Sarah and Marie Therese divide and conquer, following the two prime suspects down two different, but equally perilous, paths to danger!

I really like this series it’s like a supernatural Miss Marple and it’s just as charming as it can possibly be. I hate to say it but it’s about time that the Hellboy universe became interesting once again. By giving the girls their own limited series it’s expanding the Hellboy Universe and bringing us different aspects than what we’ve become accustomed to seeing and its a great subset within the universe. This marks the halfway point in the series and while we cannot take anything for granted, most certainly not whose responsible for the murders as of yet anyway, even if there are several candidates who look good for them. I don’t trust any of these characters and to be honest I cannot wait to see what twists & turns that Chris has in store for us.

I am really enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through the way the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented extremely well. The character development we see through the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter furthers the characterisation beautifully. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story and we’re pulled deeper and deeper in.

I like how we see this being structured an how the layers within the story continue to grow, evolve and strengthen. I love how the avenues in this story continue to be explored while it’s still confined to this storm battered island with no one able to come or go. The layers contain the twists & turns along with the characterisation that manages to add such depth, dimension and complexity to the story. How everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved exceptionally well.

The interiors here are wonderfully rendered. The linework is clean, crisp and strong and I like how we see the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work that we see. I love the backgrounds, this house, the wainscoting, the wallpaper patterns there so much here that adds so much depth and dimension to the moments and how they work within the composition of the panels to bring us the depth perception, sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is marvellous. 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 colour work is brilliantly rendered. The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is exemplary. That wallpaper patterning is phenomenal and I love seeing how it looks, it leaves me gobsmacked at its level of detail.

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This is just a marvellous little series and it’s a great locked room whodunit style mystery that just embraces the strange and bizarre beautifully. Supernatural or Occult objects being auctioned off but before this can happen the bidders start dying, so who’s trying to eliminate the competition or is the whole place just cursed? This is so engaging that the reader has questions galore and theories galore that keep them coming back to see if anything they’ve dreamed up is correct. This is a superbly written story with incredible characterisation and intricately charming interiors that will bring a smile to your face.