Review by C.J. Bunce
Steve Niles and Travor Dunham are taking you back to the 1970s this summer on a time travel, coming of age journey. The Killing Hole is Stand by Me meets Fried Green Tomatoes and The Boys Next Door, as readers meet a pair of 14-year-olds trying to find themselves. With a setting that rings of The Black Phone without the paranormal and Dazed and Confused or Fast Times at Ridgemont High without the humor, get ready for a tale that feels like a Stephen King short story–it gets in and gets out, but the pacing is a nice, slow burn.
An engaging read you’ll want to check out, The Killing Hole is available for pre-order now here at Amazon.
The graphic novel is the latest from John Carpenter and Sandy King’s Storm King Comics imprint Dark & Twisted. I’d have loved to have seen a supernatural twist like in The Black Phone or the 1970s throwback Halloween Kills–the kind found in other Storm King titles–but this is character sketch of sorts. This is historical fiction and crime story, hopefully the first of many for the publisher.
The “Killing Hole” refers to a hideout the boys use when they run away to get away from their troubled home lives (“The Hideout” would have been a great title for this). Writer Steve Niles (30 Days of Night, Mystery Society) provides a straightforward, personal story that doesn’t have (or need) much by way of layering. But the stunning images of life for a teen in the 1970s could hardly be more accurate, from the hair to the clothes, to the props of life and the cars. Trevor Dunham paints a picture that will take anyone who lived in the ’70s right back. Color work was supplied by Ryan Winn with lettering by Janice Chiang.
Here’s a look inside:
And here is a book trailer for The Killing Hole:
Add The Killing Hole to your pull list at Elite Comics, find them on Amazon, or buy them direct from Storm King comics at its website stormkingcomics.com. This graphic novel is scheduled to ship in July.
