I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Case of the Bleeding Wall by Kasey Lansdale, Joe R. LansdalePublished by Dead Sky Publishing on May 28 2024
Genres: Adult, Comic, Graphic novel, Horror
Pages: 112
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: For comic book lovers, The Case of the Bleeding Wall is a perfect intro into the supernatural world of Dana Roberts.
About six years ago I read and reviewed Terror is Our Business by Kasey Lansdale and Joe. R. Lansdale, a collection of stories about a supernormal detective named Dana Roberts who investigates weird happenings, ghosts, and demons. I had fun with it, although it ended up being a mixed bag for me. Now Dana’s story has been recreated in comic book form, with new stories and characters, and The Case of the Bleeding Wall collects the first four issues, which according to the press materials I read, were extremely popular and sold out quickly. It was interesting to see Dana and Jana come to life, although I think readers who are into comic books are going to like this more than I did.
The first part opens with Dana reading from and signing copies of her new book. At the book signing is a woman named Jana who has had her own supernatural experience and is eager to talk to Dana about it. At the end of the event, Dana is attacked by an otherworldly creature, and Jana helps stop it. Dana is impressed enough to offer Jana a job as her assistant, and before Jana knows it, they’re headed to Italy to help someone with a haunted house. But the person they’ve come to help happens to be Dana’s ex Carlo, and it turns out Carlo might need Dana for more than just her talents dealing with the supernatural.
I had to go back and read my review of Terror is Our Business to jog my memory—six years is a long time to remember book details!—because I wanted to see how the two books compare. I didn’t like Jana at all in that book—she was crass and completely unlikable. In the comics, however, the authors have toned down her character and given her all the funny lines. Basically, Jana is the comic relief, and Dana is the more serious, no nonsense character. I liked Jana much better this time around, although I thought their meeting was a bit awkward, and it didn’t make sense that Dana would take a stranger with her to Italy.
The story itself had some nice elements. I do love the occult/supernatural angle to Dana’s business, and she’s competent enough to perform arcane spells in order to call forth ghosts and the dead. The haunted house was creepy, and indeed there is a bleeding wall in the story. I also really enjoyed the artwork, especially the scary moments when the dead rise and monster-like creatures threaten the characters. Artists Daniele Serra and Tom Napolitano use dark color palettes with lots of grays to create a moody atmosphere that fit the story perfectly.
As for the comic reading experience, well, here’s where I have to admit to myself that this just isn’t the right format for me. I’m a novel girl, through and through, turns out. Some of the jumps from page to page and frame to frame seemed choppy to me, and the story didn’t always make sense. This could just be me struggling with the format, and for readers who love comics and graphic novels, I’m sure it will work better. Overall, though, I enjoyed my time with Dana and Jana, and if you love comics and are looking for something on the spooky side, this will probably do the trick.
Big thanks to Kaye Publicity and the publisher for providing a review copy.
Comics, or graphic novels, are not the right medium for me, either: no matter how good the story is, there is never *enough* of it for me to sink my proverbial teeth into, and graphic novels always feel more like a bare-bones synopses of “real” books…
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…NIGHT OF THE MANNEQUINS, by Stephen Graham Jones
Yes exactly. I do feel like some of the story is lost on me.
I don’t think I’ve ever read a graphic novel before so not sure how I’d get on with one. I have a feeling I might have some of the same issues you describe. Novels all the way 😀
Pages and Tea recently posted…Book Review: Murder on the Lamplight Express (The Lamplight Murder Mysteries #2) by Morgan Stang
I think it’s nice to switch formats sometimes, but I will always go back to novels:-)
I do enjoy comics and graphic novels though it’s not often I read ones based on novels or short stories. It’s interesting to see some of the stories that are attempted in multiple formats, though for me sometimes it feels like one format or another better suits a particular story.
I thought it an interesting idea to rewrite this story in comic form. It definitely worked in some ways!
I haven’t read any comics or graphic novels before and tbh I feel like I’d feel the same of you, preferring the format of novels. But I do have a few I really want to check out sometime. And it’s definitely interesting that they changed a character so much between formats.
I do like giving my brain a new activity by reading comics, but it’s not something I want to read all the time.
I’m mostly a novel girl, but I do read manhwa/manga occasionally. I probably shouldn’t read anything horror with artwork, though. I won’t be able to sleep for days. Novels definitely leave more room for development, though. I find reading manhwa/manga/graphic novels to just be for mindless reads, and they’re more of palette cleansers for me personally in between heavy reads. 🙂
aimee can read recently posted…Nightmares, Wedding Crashers, and Serial Killers: Mid-Month Reading Update for May 2024
This artwork will definitely keep you awake, lol.
I feel you with being a novel girl instead of a comic girl. I mean, it also highly depends on the book because I’ve loved some graphic novels I’ve read in the past but it will never be my first choice, if that makes sense. But if I do read a comic or graphic novel I prefer them to be supernatural, spooky or fantasy related.
Maybe I just need practice, lol.
Yeah, I want to love comics and graphic novels but they don’t really work for me – although I did enjoy Gaiman’s Sandman.
Lynn 😀
Glad I’m not the only one:-)
I don’t do all that well with this format either. I’m a word girl and feel like I miss a lot of important details if I’m having to rely mostly on images to convey what is going on.
Like you, I’ve tried comics/GN and just can’t get into them for long. It’s always interesting though to look at one and compare to a book I’ve read that it is based on. Thanks for sharing!
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