Version 1.0.0

Writer – David de Vries
Artist – Glenn Lumsden
Colours – David de Vries
Letters – Glenn Lumsden

Paul Toulon is dead and his puppets’ secret is only known to one man. Neil Gallagher is selfish, cruel and cunning and knows about the secret to eternal life that almost died with Toulon. But with the former’s death, his position in the hotel is in jeopardy. He marries Megan Toulon, the only daughter of Paul and soon enough he can focus all of his attention on that which Toulon discovered. Written by David de Vries and drawn by Glenn Lumsden, they continue the tale they started in the first Puppet Master series. Called Children of the Puppet Master, it is a bit of a swerve for one would think it would be more about Megan, his actual daughter. Instead, the children, whom the title refers to, are his puppets, those he seems to love more than anything, and in his notes, he begs the person or persons who find them to look after them. Neil is not that person. He only wants the secret to raising the dead, bringing life to the inanimate for himself so that he might live forever and gain some sort of fortune along the way. At one point the authors of this tale jump to the future where a man named Alex is having bad dreams, dreams of murderous puppets. The book then cuts back again to a time after Neil has killed himself and a group of paranormal investigators have arrived at the hotel, people who once used to help Neil in his research of Toulon’s secret. They have come to make sure that Neil is dead and to perhaps see if he has made any progress. While hinting at it throughout, horror is made manifest when the puppets begin to kill those newly arrived at the hotel and soon enough, Megan and Alex who is one of those who aided Neil, discover that Neil is very much alive. De Vries writes a good tale, one that jumps back and forth through the timeline. The space of time is very little, but it all starts to come together in the end and it is most probable that he will wrap things up by having everything squared away in the next and final issue. Neil may have discovered how to gain immortality but he did the one thing he should not have done and that was fail Toulon’s creations. Having found the notes that Toulon left, he was then tasked with their well-being. By default perhaps, but they are alive and they are aware and because Neil has betrayed the puppets, they know exactly what they need to do next. The book ends with blood and sets things up for the final confrontation in the second issue, leaving readers on a cliffhanger wondering what will happen next.

3.5 out of 5