Shook! [Part One] - Second Sight Publishing

SHOOK!, March 2023

Distinctly disturbing in its depiction of Patricia’s final days in a hospital bed, John Jennings’ “The Breaks” provides readers of this "historic horror anthology" comic book with a genuinely enthralling flashback to the days of Hip Hop when the emaciated invalid was better known as the young exuberant Queen Showstoppa of the Starlight dance club. True, the dying woman’s fate is arguably never in doubt. But the twelve-pager’s plot is so well-penned that few within this anthology’s audience will be able to look away from the narrative’s twists and turns until the dance is done and the deceased is once again reunited with her loyal crew in “Hip Hop Heaven.”

Foremost of these strengths is arguably this tale’s introduction to its cast, with the New York Times bestselling author highlighting the various characters’ best days under the disco ball, bopping to the musical beats in a trance-like state whilst being in the prime of physical health. This powerful preface really helps establish just what poor Patricia has lost as a result of her debilitating disease, as well as illustrates just how truly terrible the ravaging effects of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can have upon the body; “God help me… Part of me wanted to die in pain because of what he did to me… to us. I miss him so much… and the way we danced.”

In addition, Jennings’ does a first-rate job of succinctly explaining the grim fates to befall the other members of Queen’s crew, in order to maintain a strong focus upon the fast-failing convalescent and her delusional dreams to once again return to the Starlight’s dance floor. These visions are rather horrific in places, particularly when the almost skeletal patient faces down the clawing, red-eyed corpses of her deceased friends. However, they also offer a truly touching moment of hope at the end, as the medical staff finally concede that they can’t revive an unresponsive Patricia and allow her to forever party alongside “Mother Ship” in the great beyond.

Helping imbue so disconcertingly dark a yarn with all the dynamic twists and twirls of Hip Hop music, as well as the ghoulish gauntness of a murderous malady, is Charlie Goubile. The 2013 Glyph Comics Award-winner’s pencilling of Queen’s transformation from vibrant beauty to a haggard-looking shadow of her former self is incredibly moving, as is the Doctor’s battle to save her life whilst the woman inevitably succumbs to her deadly sickness.

Story: John Jennings, Art: Charlie Goubile, and Colors: Alex Bradley & John Jennings