This Week’s Comics: America’s Most Haunted Road, Therapy for the Dead, and Antifa Supersoldiers – The Portland Mercury

One of this weeks most intriguing new comic releases, Karmen, features at least one of those images, and its been long enough since I was numbed to the trope that I found myself unexpectedly affected by the sight of a gruesome, blood-spattered bathroom.

My eye was caught in general by some particularly dark titles this week. These are books that present tragedy and troubles in a way that feels far more genuine and mournful than 19-year-old Tarantino imitators whose greatest troubles in life are figuring out how to load celluloid into Bolex cameras.

Why does the sight of a body in a bathtub work in Karmen? Why do the dismemberments in Proctor Valley Road evoke real terror? Why did similar images fall so flat when repeated ad nauseam in film classes? I think its because these images are, fundamentally, troubling not gleeful or fun, as edgy indie projects from the late '90s presented them.

KARMEN

PROCTOR VALLEY ROAD

AND ALSO: SEX ED, NAUGHTY X-TEENS, AND COVID CHRONICLES

One of the most attractive new releases this week is Lets Talk About It, the latest invaluable sexy resource from Portlands Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan. If sex ed was actually good is how the book was described to me. Its a super-comprehensive sex-positive guide to questions likely on the minds of young adults and teens. Children of the Atom will be required reading for X-Men fans keeping up-to-date with that whole twisted family; and the anthology Batman Urban Legends will be required reading for fans of the growling billionaire who stalks the night. And if youre ready to reflect on the last year that weve lived through (Im personally still trying to avoid thinking about it), consider Covid Chronicles, an anthology of stories about people affected by the pandemic. (Not to be confused with another anthology with the same name; that one was more big-picture than this more intimate book.)

But wait, there's more! Thor and Loki: Double Trouble is a fabulous and fun story that positions the two characters where they work best, as bickering mismatched brothers. Also great is the second installment of the Aster series an action-adventure fantasy for young readers that is completely adorable on absolutely every page. And check out The Thud, an amazing and empathetic graphic novel based on a real-life town designed for people with developmental disabilities.

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This Week's Comics: America's Most Haunted Road, Therapy for the Dead, and Antifa Supersoldiers - The Portland Mercury