"Sink #1" Comic Review

Written by James Ferguson

Published by ComixTribe

sink 00a

Written by John Lees
Illustrated by Alex Cormack
2016, 28 Pages

Review:

I've never been to Glasgow, but after reading Sink, I can probably cross that off the list of places to visit.  Sink starts off like a normal everyday night out on the town for Allan.  He's chatting up some girls and getting a few drinks.  All of this changes when he misses the last bus home and has to walk through some shady areas of Sinkhill.  The things he encounters just might make you want to stay inside forever.

The beauty of Sink is that it starts out slow.  Writer John Lees builds up the tension with each panel before blowing your mind with terror, like ripping off some kind of horror band-aid.  The first clue that you're in for something crazy is when the bus pulls away from Allan.  After failing to convince the driver to open up, it drives past him as Allan turns away from it.  He doesn't see the bloody carnage that's inside.  Bodies are strewn every which way.  The windows are stained with blood.  It's a sequence where you almost question what you just read.  Did I really just see that?  Artist Alex Cormack is just getting started.  

Click images to enlarge

Allan's walk gets worse and worse.  He's terroized by a group of hooligans with condoms on their heads calling themselves “dickheads.”.  This is where we meet Mr. Dig, a fox-masked man armed with nothing but a shovel, who is sure to be the breakout character of this comic.  Visually, he's very interesting.  His muscular frame and intimidating stance is contrasted with the gentle fox mask covering his face.  

Mr. Dig is an animal.  He is a killing machine.  Cormack's colors with the blood splatter in these pages is breathtaking.  It's flying everywhere and practically dripping off the page.  Each blow that Mr. Dig lands is more brutal than the next.  The most cringe-worthy sequence is where he jabs the pointed end of the shovel into a man's mouth and then slams his fist into the back of his head, leaving nothing but a pile of gore dripping down the handle.  

Click images to enlarge

Here's the thing about Sink: It's not done.  All of this would have been enough to scare the crap out of you.  Between the bus, the dickheads, and Mr. Dig, you've got more than enough terror in one comic.  Then you continue on in a series of pages that is somehow a million times scarier than anything that came before it.  There's a page turn here that literally made me jump when reading it.  It comes out of nowhere and it's absolutely chilling.

Cormack adds a nice touch to these final pages.  Amidst the chaos, the panels themselves seem to shake out of their positions.  The borders are jagged and appear at odd angles, like they were hastily drawn in an effort to seal in the madness within them.  

Sink is the scariest comic I've read all year.  This is a piece of horror perfection.  And this is just the first issue!  What else do John Lees and Alex Cormack have up their sleeves for the remainder of the series?  You can find out if you just get in the van.  Sign up for their newsletter to get a first look at the comic as it's released.

Grades:

Story: fivestars Cover
Art: fivestars
Overall: 5 Star Rating

This page includes affiliate links where Horror DNA may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.

James Ferguson
Lord of the Funny Books
James has a 2nd grade reading level and, as a result, only reads books with pictures. Horror is his 5th favorite genre right after romantic comedy and just before silent films. No one knows why he's here, but he won't leave.
Other articles by this writer

OBEY - CONSUME

Join Us!

Hit the buttons below to follow us, you won't regret it...