"Lonely Receiver #2" Comic Review

Catrin is depressed, reeling from a breakup. This isn't what you'd expect though. She broke up with her phone...or rather, the artificial intelligence created just for her. Think about that for a moment. Someone was designed just for you...and they reject you. That's gotta hurt. This sets Catrin apart from the rest of society, especially with the digital ghost that seems to be haunting her.

Lonely Receiver #2 is like a downward spiral. Everything is rough in Catrin's life right now. Artist Jen Hickman captures that deep sadness so well. You just want to hug this poor woman and tell her everything will be ok.

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The thing is, she stands out like a sore thumb. Everyone else is going about their lives in this shining capitalist utopia. They're happy. They're connected. She is not. The hoops she has to jump through to get this figured out are almost comedic. Writer Zac Thompson makes Catrin very sympathetic in this regard. Most of us have dealt with a rough breakup and corporate nonsense, but rarely at the same time.

This is exemplified in a great sequence where Catrin has to answer a bunch of questions. Letterer Simon Bowland shows the questions as a disembodied voice, like Catrin is the only human being in the area. This creates an eerie quality to the whole thing. Hickman uses some cool, shifting blues for this sequence that makes for a calm, yet unsettling tone.

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The phone itself is something that really creeps me out. Look at your phone for a second. It's smooth and sleek, right? Well, that quality is still there...but there are hairs on it. The hair doesn't seem to be in any specific pattern. It's more like a giant fleshy mole that you can also use to call your parents. It's almost like a messed up Tamagotchi.

I'm still not entirely sure what to think of Lonely Receiver. It's super disturbing, but not a jump scare kind of story. Instead, it kind of seeps into your soul. It stays there, haunting your thoughts for some time. It's a chilling tale of love lost through the lens of sci-fi horror.