Leave On The Light #3 - Antarctic Press Comics

LEAVE ON THE LIGHT No. 3, August 2020

Absolutely packed full of vicious murders, pugnacious prison break-outs and grisly bodily mutilations, Bradley Golden and George Aguilar’s ferociously fast narrative for Issue Three of “Leave On The Night” will most assuredly delight any fans of the horror comic book genre. In fact, many readers will probably struggle to comprehend the sheer scale of this thirty-two page periodical’s death count, as Thomas Lassey embarks upon a momentous slaughter spree which not only sees both Detective Gary Marshall and his partner Sarah McKinney being badly mauled by the Undead phantom, but a staggering number of ‘innocent’ family members getting cut, slashed and terrifyingly torn asunder as well; “This city has suffered tragedy after tragedy, but the attack on Catelin Hospital is by far the most disgusting act of violence I have ever witnessed.”

Delightfully however, such homicidal mayhem isn’t simply crowbarred into this publication to help pad out its plot or sate the odd bibliophile’s bloodlust, with the vast majority of these slayings actually helping progress this comic’s central storyline involving the Butcher making enough sacrifices with which to draw a demonic entity onto our plane of existence. This surprising twist genuinely elevates the initial premise of a supernatural criminal solely exacting his revenge upon the cops who sentenced him to death into something much grander, and rather enjoyably turns the mini-series into an entertaining prelude of further stories to come as the distraught police officers decide to “hunt the creatures” who slaughtered their loved ones at the book’s end.

Helping this comic along with it’s incredibly high body tally is Adam Fields’ artwork, which really does a good job of showing just how utterly merciless a serial killer Lassey can be. The lead illustrator of “Midnight27 Studios” doesn’t waste a moment in his build-ups to depict the ghostly ghoul stabbing his victims with a truly-terrifyingly large hunting knife, even when sketching the potential demise of this title’s lead characters such as McKinney and the shocking death of Marshall’s hapless son inside Saint Dominic’s Church. In addition, this comic’s prodigiously pencilled contents is noteworthy for containing the likenesses of some of the supporters of the title's “Kickstarter” campaign, who financially pledged a little bit extra so as to appear within this magazine’s third instalment as secondary characters.

Script: Bradley Golden & George Aguilar, and Artist: Adam Fields

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

Leave On The Light #1 - Antarctic Press Comics

LEAVE ON THE LIGHT No. 1, April 2019

Brought vividly to life via “Kickstarter” in January 2019 courtesy of 130 backers pledging $2,974, this twenty-page ‘fright-fest’ most assuredly delivers on creator Bradley Golden’s intention to provide its audience with a truly disturbing narrative as “an undead serial killer” graphically begins claiming the lives of a small township’s children “using the city's Electrical system.” True, Issue One of “Leave On The Light” starts straightforwardly enough with little infant Kassey Maxey crossly disagreeing with her mother that she still needs to go to her new daycare in the morning, but just as soon as the bedroom light is switched off and the heavy rain outside starts pattering against the girl’s windows, it’s clear something enthrallingly gruesome is about to take place.

Impressively however, what then follows is far from a simple ‘slasher flick’ as collaborative writers George Aguilar and the aforementioned Golden rapidly start to establish that their ghoulish-faced knife-wielding antagonist isn’t just yet another in a long line of unoriginal homicidal maniacs who have recently escaped from some psychiatrist’s padded cell. Indeed, even before Detective Marshall arrives at the grisly murder scene and watches the crime scene investigators photographing Claire’s severed head, there is a strong suggestion that something innovatively supernatural is taking place within this publication.  

Determined to reveal the identity of a supposed copycat killer, the pair’s penmanship successfully provides an excellent hook by permitting the reader to soon realise that the haunted policeman is wrong in his assumption that a dead man can’t return to continue his crimes. This disclosure genuinely imbues this book’s harrowing closing scene with even more menace, as it rapidly becomes clear that the deranged nightmarish figure stalking Gary’s partner when she stops off at a late night roadside garage isn’t a mere figment of her imagination and that Sarah is probably about to come to a gratuitously violent end; “Strange, I been feeling this chill on the back of my neck the whole ride here.”

Adding to this comic’s palpable fear factor are Alex Sarabia’s breakdowns, which go an incredible way to help show the sheer sadistic delight Thomas Butcher Lassey takes in both shadowing and subsequently butchering his prey. The decision to only employ colour when the creative team utilise sound effects additionally proves a ‘master stroke’ in generating a seriously disturbing ‘film noir’ atmosphere to the story-telling’s grim premise.

First published on the "Dawn of Comics" website.'

Script: Bradley Golden & George Aguilar, and Pencils: Alex Sarabia