Written by Joe Hill
Art by Leomacs and Dan McDaid
Published by DC Comics/Black Label
Joe Hill’s penchant for generating fear in a narrative sense knows no bounds. Couple that with Leomacs’ talent for depicting sheer terror, and it’s easy to appreciate how much June Branch is in over her head.
June defended herself with an old rusty axe from an escaped convict. She chopped off his head, and it’s still alive. June adds to her collection in this issue while trying to come to terms with the absolute insanity of her predicament.
Yelling, screaming, and good cry helps June in the short term; however, a rather big question remains. Joe Hill does a great job of presenting unusual problems.
June is now stuck with a basket containing two dismembered heads from two different individuals who tried to kill her.
The heads try to convince June to go to the police and turn herself in. How would a police officer react to a basket of talking heads who claim they were murdered in cold blood?
One of them would have a good case while the other broke out of jail. That’s is where it gets interesting.
Money is missing, people want it and the interested parties believe June is the missing link. There are several tension-filled pages where June is confiding in someone who appeared to be a friend. The entire time I wanted June to stop talking because she was being pumped for information. Leomacs’ character work with June exudes rising terror with each turn of the page. June’s pain was palpable when a truck driver pulled her hair in an attempt to kill her.
The fear June’s face was masterfully drawn as a big thick chain was swung at her head. The dark and stormy night was depicted to such an extent; I felt I was in the rain for far too long and needed to dry off.
Joe Hill and Leomacs work well in exquisite fashion to create a story that is methodical in its approach. However, when it’s time to deliver that shell shock moment, it doesn’t disappoint.
This limited series was originally scheduled to run for six issues. This series is so good, another issue was added, which can only mean good things going forward.
There are a lot of fun horror comic books with a great story. Basketful of Heads brings the creep factor in a gruesome fashion. The story is engaging, and I’m actually worried that June might not make it out alive. In my book, that’s $3.99 well spent.
Rating: B+
