Do you like horror with romance, religion, horrific secrets and one crazy (and dead) poet? Then, you probably should read Revival: Deluxe Collection, Volume 1 (which includes volumes one to eleven). The gore and violence is borderline gratuitous at times and other times goes well over the decency mark. There is sex, drugs and probably some rock and roll (but I was too busy covering my virtual ears from the saw that’s (spoiler) chopping up a body, to notice).
If you have any kind of a trigger, it is probably here. Murder and suicide, death by fire, scythe, and crematorium. Insest (do step-siblings count?), lots of drugs and alcohol, plus more internal organs outside the body, than I have ever wanted to see. There is some animal death but it is there for the story and less for cruelty (the zebra/horse hybrid is a metaphor for what is going on).
Multiple story arcs happen simultaneously, similarities to characters sometimes makes it hard to tell people apart, and the biggie, WHY is Martha called Em? Not for the squeamish or sensitive reader. If Walking Dead met the current Pandemic met Heroes (only no heroes were made) we would have Revival. Tim Seeley, Mike Norton (illustrator), Mark Englert (colorist), Crank! (letterer), and Jenny Frison (covers) put together something that on one level was amazing and on another, the worst thing I have read. It had potential then lost the high ground with some snarky comment or too cliché for words slur.
A place where I did a short review of this book has general questions about the story. One is if the characters are likable/lovable. No, they are not. They are horrible, selfish people and you find yourself somewhat rooting for them. Don’t ask me why, but I wanted things to work out for them. Yet, this is reality at its harshest and frankly, I also hope they all “get theirs” but good!
This is not even countered by the illustrations. The colors are all dark. There are red splashes when we have blood, but even that looks flat. Yet, the whole story is bursting, the images are busy and you have the smallest, oddest little details sometimes that tell you everything you need to know (especially since the text isn’t). Things are contradictions and yet, it all works. Everything is pushed by the character of the imagery. The story is slow, you come into the middle of things sometimes, there are parts I reread several times to make sure I heard them right. However, as much as I was thinking, “WHY did I want to read this?” (I read via an interlibrary loan), I put in my request for volume two (of so far, four volumes) in. (Though you can wait until early October 2024,when the complete volume will be available.)
