When this horror comic was being printed monthly, it took effort to resist every issue. I could tell by its reception Scott Snyder, Scott Tuft, and Attila Futaki were crafting a story I’d want to read in full and repeatedly, so I buckled down and forced my self to trade wait. Or hardcover wait, as the case turned out.
Written by Scott Snyder and Scott Tuft
Illustrated by Attila Futaki1916. A man haunts the roads. A man with razor-sharp teeth and a hunger for flesh. When twelve year old Jack Garron runs away from home to find his father, a wayward minstrel he hasn’t seen since birth, he’ll discover how quickly the American Dream can become a nightmare.
200 pages / $24.99
This collection has a forward from Jeff Lemire, where he puts into words an opinion I’ve had for a long time: “…Most horror flicks and comics…are bad stories. They’re all gore and cheap shocks for the sake of it.” He goes on to promise “Severed” isn’t like that, which puts a lot of pressure on the book. Luckily for it, and for anyone who reads it, it fulfills that promise.
It’s not clear to me how much of the story came from each writer, but whatever the input ratio was, the Scotts found the right mix. Two main characters are well-written twelve year olds with convincing motivations and backstories. Their dialogue was a good combination of adolescent cockiness and youthful optimism. The chapter breaks were fairly rough, sometimes cutting off action and not returning to it until the action was over. The beginning of each chapter had a small amount of narration before disappearing and letting the story tell itself. Together, the two result in something of a bouncing effect where the book pulls the reader in tight, then lets go almost completely before starting the process over. I’m sure it was effective with a month between chapters, but in one collection, it’s somewhat distracting.
The art was gorgeous. Futaki’s pencils were the right combination of sharp and rough to capture the mood of the plot. His angles and shading really drills home the dark side of every person in the book, including background characters. There’s also a very cinematic feel to the panel layouts, with large splash panels forcing the reader to turn the pages just as quickly as the action is happening on the page, and pages crammed with panels when the story is moving slower. I think it was the colors by Futaki (chapters 1-3) and Greg Guilhaumond (chapters 4-7) which really brought the book to life. There’s a stunning sunset in chapter four which always makes me pause in the story and just marvel at the art.
For bonus features, “Severed” deliveres afterwards from both Scotts and Attila, along with a cover gallery, character designs, reference photos used by Atilla, and the script-pencils-inks-color process for three pages. As far as extras go, none of these are particularly unique or unusual, but they’re enjoyable and more than some other collections offer.
The single issues were orignally $2.99, so the hardcover is charging about four dollars for the extras, which is a bit steep. Of course, you’d have a hard time finding those issues for cover price anymore. A quick glance at eBay shows sets of all seven issues going for $35ish. In that light, the hardcover is a good value.
Final Verdict: 6.5 – Right on the line of Browse/Buy, depending on your tastes
