The Creators – Paul Tobin – Writer, Andrea Mutti – Artist & Colours, Taylor Esposito – Letters

The Players – Tyler Severin, Bee Foster, Sheriff Roger Tate

The Story – Bee Foster lives with an abusive dad but it is more than that as he hears voices and those voices have a plan for all those who hear them, directly or indirectly.

The Take – Aftershock which has been going through a boom of sorts recently thanks to a financial partner has released yet another new book, this one a slice of horror courtesy of Paul Tobin and Andrea Mutti. To sum it up, this was a great first issue, one filled with horror and paranoia from the start, leading to mystery and a darkness begging to be explored. Tyler Severin is a child safety nurse who is out on a call to one Leo Foster’s house and immediately violence enters the picture as Leo stabs Tyler’s partner Juliette through the chest with a stake because ‘The Snitch’ told him to do so. Tyler then finds himself a prisoner, forced to dig a tunnel for Leo and the voices in his head and as he digs over the days and weeks, he finally breaks through to the other side where he discovers something old and something that is at the very least, otherworldly. Tobin does a great job at setting the stage with this first issue for what is to come, though just what that might be has yet to be revealed, though, given the last page of the book, it is definitely going to be something straight from a nightmare. Making it come to horrific life is Mutti whose artwork is perfectly suited for this tale of darkness, the muted colours and almost washed-out look of it that lets readers know immediately what they are in for. One also has to factor in Roger Tate, the local sheriff where Tyler was eventually found after he somehow ‘escaped’ his confinement, as the man years later, knows that there is something else waiting to be discovered about the case as none of it makes sense, he simply needs to do the discovering. The characters, especially Bee, are fairly interesting at this point though Tobin is sure to go deeper into just what makes them who they are as horror always tends to bring out that which makes people tick. As for the horror itself, it is effective and Tobin paints it not only as a mystery but one that has a history and old horror is sometimes the scarier kind as it has a gravitas to it, something that should not only be feared but almost respected in a way. Altogether, Bunny Mask is worth a read and one of the better books being published by Aftershock at the moment.

Worth It? – Yes