The Creators – Steve Niles – Writer, Szymon Kudranski – Artist, Scott O. Brown and Marshall Dillon – Letters

The Players – Henry West, Julie West

The Story – Henry West is kidnapped and taken back to the small town called Terror, a place which he used to call home and a place he never thought to see again. It also happens to be where his father lives.

The Take – Steve Niles is back with another tale to curdle the blood and he along with his partner in crime, Szymon Kudranski, do set the mood quite well. The book is all blacks and greys and reds and with only three colours dominating the landscape, that red stands out in a variety of ways whether it be the glow that lights up a morgue or the taillights of a car. It is a very moody and atmospheric book, exactly what one wants when presenting a bit of horror and yet there was very little of it aside from the opening sequence which saw an old man reassembled from various body parts to live yet again. Furthermore, it seems as if Niles is writing for the trade as the book definitely features the requisite number of pages but feels as if there is very little there to really grab ahold of. Readers are introduced to Henry and Julie and it finds the former abducted while the latter worries about what happened to her husband and little else. Some more info on Henry perhaps would have been appreciated though Niles does provide a little background such as Henry being from Terror, the town where monsters live as well as the fact that he left long ago never to return, not to mention that he never expected to see his father ever again, not caring for the old man in the slightest so it would seem. With all of that, there is just enough here to keep readers interested as this opening chapter does feel like it is leading somewhere and the artwork by Kudranski which is just stellar keeps the eyes focused on the page, drinking it all in. So with a slight chill running through the book, a bit of mystery and some family drama sure to rear its head, A Town Called Terror is just good enough to warrant at least a second issue’s reading with the hopes that the creative team pack a little more into that next book.

Worth It? – Yes.