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Infidel TPB
Publisher: Image Comics
Story: Pornsak Pichetshote
Art: Aaron Campbell
Editor/Colors: Jose Villarrubia
Letters: Jeff Powell

Infidel has been one of the most difficult reviews I’ve ever taken on. I don’t think it should have been, as I enjoyed the book profoundly. Pornsak Pichetshote’s narrative is grounded and compelling, the characters are well-realized and the plotting is smartly executed. Aaron Campbell’s art is unnerving in the best way and, coupled with Jose Villarrubia’s colorwork, the illusory effect is masterful. Everything about the book immersive, thought-provoking, and evocative. So why has it been so difficult for me to review it? I would say it’s because of the internal conversations that followed reading it. Honestly, I think that is actually Infidel’s greatest strength as a work of fiction. It brings very real questions to mind, days or even weeks after reading.

Infidel follows the story of Aisha, her fiance Tom, and Tom’s daughter Kris, having recently moved in with her soon-to-be mother-in-law. Their new home was previously the site of a catastrophic explosion at the hands of a negligent, lone wolf jihadi. Initially, Aisha is intent on making the best of the situation, attempting to take supposed conflicts regarding her Islamic culture in stride. These considerations soon take a back seat as she becomes plagued by terrifying visions. Try as she might to dismiss them, the frequency and intensity of the apparitions only increase with time. As she begins to question her sanity the effects of her torment begin to manifest in her relationships with friends and family.

It is in these relationships that the true horror of Infidel takes shape. The denizens of the apartment building are diverse as one might find in any major metropolis. Many depicted in the story are new to the building and harbor a morbid curiosity about the bombing and former tenants. As Aisha deteriorates, her best friend Medina sets her sights on discovering the source of her phantoms. The spiritual upheaval within the building seems to be getting stronger, and the manifestations only more aggressively antagonistic. With a seemingly supernatural force threatening the building’s inhabitants, will they be able to overcome their preconceptions and work together or be lost to an insurmountable hatred from beyond the grave?

I am generally not a fan of horror as entertainment, mainly because the world we live in bears far too many real horrors and atrocities for me to find the latest gore porn extravaganza entertaining. That said, some very particular horror stories transcend genre and medium in that they speak directly to the human condition; to our frailty, and our very primal relationship with fear. In spite of all our advancements, humanity will often forsake reason, empathy, and civility for any fleeting semblance of normalcy. We cling feebly to the known, the scrutable and recognizable, in the hope that we never have to leave our comfort zone. And we don’t as long as what we stand to learn conforms to our preconceptions and thereby justifies our tolerance or lack thereof.

This is the space that Infidel inhabits, by nature of its staggering craft and detail, very intentionally. I will admit, assuming this was done for the sake of brevity and clarity, that one or two of the exchanges depicted come off as overly convenient. Instances where what is said or shown is exactly what a particular telling of this story needs, but that may not necessarily “feel” authentic. And it is because the overall work is so grounded that these narrative missteps are apparent. Likewise, there is a persistent preoccupation with challenges to Aisha’s agency. Of these criticisms, the first is middling at best considering that those specific scenes are infrequent and hardly integral to the main story. The second point offers an opportunity for my own introspection. Aisha’s circumstances are unique, religiously, culturally, and romantically. By what measure should I dismiss concerns voiced by her and her loved ones around a woman’s autonomy? Therein, again, lies the value of Infidel as a literary work. It is a value that cannot be overstated.

For a deeper look at Infidel check out Pts 1 & 2 of our interviews with the creators!

Christian Davenport
cable201@comicattack.net