Wacky — now there’s a word I don’t use very often. But what other word could describe a comic that features, among other things, a mysterious key, an ominous puppet, and a down-on-his-luck hired killer dressed up as a sasquatch? Lucky for us, the wackiness of this 215 Ink-published series is anchored by some wonderful storytelling, making “Deadhorse” one breezily entertaining series and its most recent issue a must-buy for this year’s NYCC.
Written by Eric Grissom
Illustrated by Phil SloanPike takes an unexpected trip while Elise and Edgar find themselves in a dark place.
Let’s face it: sometimes getting caught up on a comic can be a chore. Not so with “Deadhorse”: the first four issues bound along at a good pace, setting up a mystery story that’s as chock full of clues and red herrings as it is sweetly humorous and absurd. Now that we’ve reached the fifth and penultimate issue to this arc, that mystery is starting to come apart a little, while still leaving plenty of questions to be answered.
To briefly sketch out the plot so far, William Pike is on a quest to unravel the mystery of a key left to him by his deceased father — who, it happens, might not be so deceased after all. The search leads him to a motel in a remote area of Alaska, and along the way, he makes reluctant use of help from Elise, a teenager who’s run away from home, and Edgar, whose uncle owns the motel. Now they’ve discovered that all is not as it seems in this quaint rural getaway, and Dr. Andrew Conroy, the man whom Pike’s father instructed him to seek out, may not be trustworthy after all…
This issue is especially remarkable for featuring a beautifully surreal dream sequence. Providing our first real insights into Pike’s character and backstory, this section dials back the wackiness in favour of some genuine emotion, and as a welcome change of pace, it hits hard. It also flows particularly well, switching locales and situations while maintaining a dream-logic of its own, which is no easy feat. The thread tying it all together seems to be all the hurt that Pike’s had in his life, but the tragic events featured are handled with a light touch, and made that much more mysterious and haunting by a recurring bird motif that’s beginning to look like it has some plot significance as well. All in all it’s a pretty tightly woven web, and a standout sequence in a series that has had no shortage of intricate and well-thought out concatenations of events.
As for the real world, the twists and turns that follow — as well as a brief flashback sequence — are deftly handled and engaging, showcasing Grissom’s feel for snappy dialogue and Sloan’s strong layouts and compositions. The second half of the issue does seem a little pale in comparison to that dream sequence, but then, pretty much anything would. At any rate, as the plot pushes Edgar and Elise into a dire situation it’s definitely clear that the mystery is snowballing into something big — and while there’s no guessing where it’s headed, there are enough clues scattered about to keep you sleuthing on future rereads should you so desire.
The art for this series is unusual, leaning heavily into the cartoon side of things and looking a lot like something you would see in a quirky — and vaguely retro — limited-animation show. Sloan gets a lot of emotion, atmosphere, and movement out of a few carefully chosen lines, and the result is deceptively easy on the eyes, almost imperceptibly getting at both your heart strings and funnybone. The facial expressions pull a lot of weight during that dream sequence, while some eerie, dead-on compositions lend a few wordless panels a lot of oomph.
Adding to the overall atmosphere are David Halvorson’s muted and textured colours, which have a lovely pulp look, and really bring home a sense of old-fashioned mystery and intrigue. Particularly effective in this issue is one jarring change of colour scheme, where bright unearthly shades replace the usual earthier ones, signalling the start of the dream sequence and setting out a credibly hallucinatory experience.
Overall “Deadhorse” shows signs of being one of those hidden gems that only gains in popularity as more and more readers talk about it, with this slightly more complex and emotional issue demonstrating that it’s got depth as well as surface-level likeability. Be sure to grab a copy if you’re at NYCC, or download one through 215 Ink (the first issue is free), and keep a weather eye for the last issue in this arc, due this Hallowe’en.
Final Verdict: 8.8 — Buy
