Hell has come home as Clive Barker returns to writing his signature creation!
Clive Barker has “touched” Hellraiser only twice before: once to write The Hellbound Heart, and once more to write and direct the original Hellraiser film. With the HELLRAISER ongoing series, witness Barker’s long-awaited return to tell a new chapter in the official continuity — a trajectory that will forever change the Cenobites…and Pinhead! So prepare your soul for an epic journey into horror from one of the medium’s greatest voices, and starring one of the medium’s greatest characters, in an unforgettable new chapter of Hellraiser. |
As usual with this kind of stuff, I was confused some of the time, but ignored that like usual and kept reading.
It's definitely a different type of Hellraiser story where Pinhead has grown weary. I was more interested in the Kirsty angle because I enjoyed Hellseeker so much when I saw it last year. Yeah, the Hellraiser sequels are pretty terrible, and it wasn't a well-made movie, but there was something about it that had me glued and seeking out this comic series.
Fortunately Pinhead is accompanied by the cenobites from the original two movies (the rest kind of sucked anyway), and there are a few dialogue exchanges with the female cenobite, who expresses confusion at the leader's pause. There's an abundance of other hellraiser types and apparently Kirsty has gotten involved with a group that seeks to destroy the different portals and creatures which are summoned. Pinhead knows of this but ultimately craves Kirsty as a potential ally of something unsaid at times, and another challenge/conquest the other times. Obviously we recognize the box, but the comic shows there are other portals used such as a snowglobe and a creepy doll.
The graphics are dark and heavily penned, well-illustrated and keeping in the darker toned colors you'd expect with this genre. Obviously no humor is present - some of the films tried to make a little humor work, but it's absent here for good and logical reason.
It's weird to read about a Pinhead who is bored with it all and seems to be experiencing a type of spiritual crisis of his own, wondering even about death and the end - don't expect the villain so many horror-lovers know and enjoy to be present in the same way we're used to him. Still, he's there and has convincing lines that fit the former novella and movie offsprings. I'm glad Clive kept with the continuity from the second film which shows they've found their real human faces and existence (after the reveal from Kirsty at the end of the movie), and it seems to spur on a little from Hellseeker. I think. Again, I get confused.
There's still more of the series to read to see what's really up, which I'll do soon.
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