Leave On The Light #2 - Antarctic Press Comics

LEAVE ON THE LIGHT No. 2, August 2019

Delving “deeper into the history of the Butcher”, Bradley Golden and George Aguilar’s story for Issue Two of “Leave On The Light” must have gone some way to convince this comic’s audience that this title was a far cry from the usual knife-wielding slasher romp most horror-based writers churn out in the modern age. Indeed, straight from its rather gory opening, which depicts Thomas Lassey’s sickening execution “for the murders of five men, nine women and six children”, the twenty-two page periodical makes it clear that the book’s main antagonist most definitely isn’t going to stop slaughtering people in cold blood simply because some electrical current has coursed through his body to the point where his eyeballs explode…

Such a memorable ‘death scene’ really does stick in the reader’s mind, and makes the maniac’s subsequent haunting of Detective Sarah McKinney all the more tense as he noisily scratches a note to her in an adjoining cubicle’s door when the police officer briefly visits a garage restroom. At any minute it seems likely the undead apparition will strike her down as he did the Maxey family, and this tension is truly palpable even after a clearly disconcerted McKinney pulls her firearm out on a hapless old woman and teddy bear carrying grand-daughter; “Oh. We’d better leave, Mindy.”

Gary Marshall’s investigation into the killer’s final days on death row are no less troubling either, as Doctor Lupin discovers his supposedly deceased patient was secretly receiving satanic “popular best-sellers” shortly before his demise. This revelation genuinely chills the soul, and makes Sarah’s ensuing enquiry into “French fired” Lassey’s only living relative even more terrifying as she blunders into the man’s dark and seedy apartment building.

Also greatly adding to this publication’s perturbing ambiance are the breakdowns of Stan Yak, whose ability to pencil the sheer insanity behind Thomas’ mad eyes alone is arguably enough to convince any passing bibliophile that his illustration work is worthy of perusal. Coupled with some excellently thought out perspectives, such as McKinney looking in through the spyhole of a front door, or Lupin glancing up to see Lassey’s reflection in his bathroom mirror, the Russian artist does a great job of bringing Golden and Aguilar's collaborative narrative to spine-tingling life.

Script: Bradley Golden & George Aguilar, and Pencils: Stan Yak