Ex Sanguine #4
Publisher: Dark Horse
Writers: Joshua Scott Emmons & Tim Seeley
Artist: Tim Seeley
Colors: Carlos Badilla
Saul is quite a complicated guy, and that’s even without considering he’s a vampire. But now, he’s having some sort of flashbacks, and he can’t tell if they’re just memories or something worse. Meanwhile, all this is set off by Saul finding Joy (waitress from the diner) dead on the floor. Back at the FBI, Quinn and Franks are trying to piece together all the information they have on these murders. As the two are arguing, another agent runs in to tell them that there’s been another murder. While that’s going on, Saul is back at his place trying to piece together the last few days’ events between himself and Ashley. In the end, he’s confronted by Ashley, and Franks and Quinn’s relationship takes a crazy turn!
This issue was kind of slow moving, but the ending made it all worth it. The confrontation between Ashley and Saul was great, and was one-upped by Quinn and Franks in a sticky situation that left a big question mark as to who the killer might be. This, along with the fact that now Saul is having these flashbacks or dreams or whatever, is making it difficult to figure out what’s going to happen in the end. Truthfully, it will probably be something that hardcore horror fans have seen, but new readers will be pleasantly surprised by the storytelling and its mysterious plot.
Any Seeley fans out there will love this book. Personally, it is quite different and more vibrant than most horror books out there. The sleek style and over-the-top transformations make it very solid artistically speaking. The female characters (especially Ashley) are very sexy and provocative. This is nothing new for Seeley, but does fit the tone of the book perfectly. The covers have been interesting to say the least. This one was pretty cool, but not as good as the first two.
So, basically, if you like vibrant, sexy horror books, get out and pick this series up. If not, let it go, but if you’ve been thinking about giving something of Seeley’s a chance, grab this one and check out the blood spattering, first hand!
Billy Dunleavy
billy@comicattack.net
