Route 666 #3
Review by Doc Ezra
Story:
Art:

Written by Tony Bedard
Pencils by Karl Moline
Inks by John Dell
Colors by Nick Bell

Published by CrossGen

Price: $2.95

My advice: Miss the horror comics of yesteryear? Pick it up, then.

Cassie Starkweather had a relatively normal life, until recently. She was a successful collegiate gymnast, having a typical college experience with her best friend and roommate. Then, as things are wont to do, her existence went horribly pear-shaped. Her best friend died in a freak bleacher accident, she starts seeing ghosts, and is summarily locked up in the loony bin. But all is not well in the nuthatch, and all is not what it seems.

Route 666 #3 finds Cassie making her exit from Melchior Sanitarium, and struck with a crisis of conscience. One of the doctors, Dr. Waterman, showed Cassie some kindness during her stay, and she cannot leave him without warning him about the rest of the sanitarium’s unusual staff – namely, the orderly werewolves and sinister Dr. Melchior himself. Unfortunately, her warning is too late, and the evil Melchior is busy ripping Waterman’s throat out when Cassie arrives.

This means another appearance by the mysterious shadowy figures that her grandfather (or his ghost, to be more precise) warned her about. They work for some mysterious entity known only as The Adversary, and they function essentially as harvesters of souls. And they want Cassie badly. She has other plans, naturally, and makes her escape. Unfortunately, the death of Dr. Waterman (and a few sundry others at the sanitarium) are pinned on the “escaped lunatic” Cassie, and she finds herself the target of a statewide manhunt. Thus begins a great chase sequence, and one of the best cliffhanger final moments I’ve seen in a long time.

The art in this book continues to please, with Nick Bell’s colors being a real standout. As mentioned above, the cliffhanger is brilliant, consisting of a beautiful two-page spread, text-free, that will definitely have readers picking up #4. The palette of the book is alternately dark and moody, contrasted with lots of bright color during the moments of both horrific violence and supernatural events (often the same scenes).

Overall, Route 666 continues to be a much-needed shot in the arm to the genre of horror comics, and merges the best of contemporary comic production with all the storytelling savvy in the classic horror books of yore (and without all the lame one-liners and bad puns inherent to things like Tales from the Crypt). Definitely get your copy today.