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Blood & Gourd #1

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    Ian Jane
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  • Blood & Gourd #1



    Blood & Gourd #1
    Released by: Dead Peasant
    Released on: March, 2015.
    Written by: Jenz K. Lund & D.H. Shultis
    Illustrated by: Dave Acosta
    Purchase From Big Cartel

    The first issue of Blood & Gourd begins on the evening of October 29th, just before midnight. A man named Roger gives some investors a tour of a very unorthodox greenhouse, one used by Seminal Chemicals that 'might even change your own personal relationships with God.' Just then the pumpkins in the greenhouse start vibrating… and then they quite literally attack them men, save for Roger and his assistant.

    The next day, we catch up with a woman named Lori driving her obnoxious kids, Tristan and Mason, out to Henderson Farms for some family time. Once they get there Lori spies her old friend Kitty Henderson, she runs the place. Turns out that the farm isn't getting the water it should be and the pumpkin harvest this year isn't what it should be. Regardless, the place is packed even if Kitty and crotchety old Vernon aren't too happy about the buyout. Since Kitty's mom died, her father just didn't have it in him anymore, and Seminal Chemicals didn't really give them much of a choice. And so ends a hundred and thirty years of family history.

    Mason runs off with a friend named Sasha to check out the winner of the biggest pumpkin contest - and that thing is huge, unnaturally huge you might say. The competitors - losers - aren't happy, they don't feel it was fair. After all, this thing was grown right here and pumped full of chemicals. Despite the signs around the giant pumpkin saying not to touch it, the kids poke at it anyway, until Roger and some henchmen show up and scare the kids off. They clear the room, or at least they try to - until one of the farmers involved with the winning pumpkin starts spewing, then melting, then sprouting green foliage out of his body. He runs and spews green goop all over various attendees on the way and dragging one of his fellow farmers out of the place with him into the bathroom. There the contaminated man's head is punched off, only for flowers to sprout up in its place. Roger shows up and puts an end to all of this but it's not a happy ending, not by a long shot. And then the cops show up.

    Back on the farm, kids are carving pumpkins and enjoying the festivities. Kitty talks to a farmer named Cal about what just happened, they're not sure if it was a prank or not. Cal's more concerned with the prize winning pumpkin, the markings on it seem to come from the inside, as if there might be something alive in it. And then pumpkins in the pumpkin patch where all the kids are playing start vibrating, and so does the giant one that takes Cal. Kitty fights back against it but it rolls out of the barn. Cal manages to break free as the pumpkins massacre the tourists and the vines start to take on the form of a man…

    This first issue is a fun read. Lots of characters are introduced, and almost as many are killed off but clearly Cal and Kitty are in this for the long hall - maybe? Guess we'll find out in issue two. The story is solid, plenty entertaining, and told with a good sense of humor. There are funny little details peppered throughout the book, such as the LED screen on the camera of a photographer taking shots not of the giant pumpkin but the pretty lady standing next to it. The whole concept is pretty over the top - but it's played straight enough that it never reads like parody. There's also a good element of mystery here. We know that Seminal Chemicals is obviously up to something with their strange greenhouse and creepy Roger puttering about uttering arcane, ritualistic scriptures of some sort, but we don't know yet exactly what it is.

    The art is solid, and the coloring from Fran Gamboa quite strong. There are a lot of great facial expressions on the different characters that make their emotions and reactions seem more real and the design work that went into some of the killer pumpkins is impressive in detail and scope. Panel layouts are creative, lots of the gooey gory bits 'leap off the page' at the reader and the action sequences in particular have a nice sense of movement to them. Throw in a great cover courtesy of Juan Antonio Ramirez. All in all, an entertaining first issue for a horror comic with a quirky sense of humor and some twisted originality all working in its favor.






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