4.43/5.0 StarsRating if the Book Were a Movie: R
Creative Team:
Writer: Ethan S. Parker and Griffin Sheridan
Artist: Bob Quinn
Letters: John J. Hill
Cover: Bob Quinn
Publisher: Image Comics
Ratings:
Story: 4.6 Stars
Artwork: 4.7 Stars
Cover Artwork: 4.2 Stars
Dialogue: 4.4 Stars
Mechanics: 4.3 Stars
Editing: 4.4 Stars
About the Book:
Rose has returned to Rosewood. Some of her subjects are happy to see her. Her chief antagonist, a great and terrible evil, has possessed her best friend. While possessing Elliott this evil will do everything it can think of to break Rose in an onslaught of psychological warfare.
Reader’s Notes:
I find myself relating to Rose even more as I get further into “Kill Your Darlings”. I never found myself in a mental health facility. I did find myself feeling just as lonely as Rose was growing up.
There was a few month stretch where Rose’s routine was mine. Dad would have already left for work when I woke up in the morning and wouldn’t get back home until after I’d gone to bed. I had to feed myself, get to school, do my homework, and keep myself entertained. Unlike Rose, I had the benefit of having an apartment complex filled with other kids to play with.
In retrospect I don’t blame Dad. Nor do I blame Rose’s mother. As a single parent you do what you have to in order to make ends meet. I get that now. In fact those few months made me cherish our weekends together when life became less hectic. I learned to appreciate the time he was home. It’s easy to see how that could be such a powerful tool to use against Rose, though. She never had the chance for life to become less hectic.
I love when the artwork on a comic book cover is relevant to the story inside. It doesn’t have to be straight from a panel; but something similar is always appreciated. This cover has that in spades. The fact that it’s a wraparound cover adds to how great it is.
Throughout this series Mr. Quinn’s artwork has been outstanding. He maintains the status quo with this issue. My favorite thing about his work is how adept he is with his coloring. He does phenomenal work with his hues, which makes the story even more compelling.
As a geek on a budget I would say know yourself before reading “Kill Your Darlings”. The story is very dark in places. If you’re up for that, this title is well worth the price of admission. It has outstanding artwork to go with plenty of action, while depicting the childhood imagination in such a way that it reminds me of Bill Waterson’s work in “Calvin and Hobbes”.