If nothing else, the Asylum
series is one that has some real potential in its pages. Published by Storm
King Comics and produced by the legendary horror director John Carpenter, the
book tells the story of a world overrun by evil – and the lonely few who are
fighting it.
If that rings a little too familiar to you right off the bat…well,
you’re not wrong. Much of what appears in the first few issues of the story
seems pulled from a checklist of standard supernatural horror tropes: there’s
the rise of a deadly evil on the horizon, a rogue police officer, a quirky
seer, a wise older mentor, a disgraced main character with a tragic backstory –
and they all have to team up to save the world from the apocalypse.
That’s not to say that none of these elements work. Tropes
are tropes for a reason – and with a little inventive twist, they can give
birth to the makings of a good story. That “good story” pokes its head up in
fits and starts throughout these first two issues, and gives some hope for
future installments.
As things get rolling, the basic narrative is pretty simple:
Beckett (the priest) and Duran (the cop) cross paths as Duran follows the trail
of a potential murderer and Beckett battles a case of demonic possession. It
turns out they’re after the same person, just for different reasons. Duran is a
man of facts and logic (coupled with a fiery temper), and Beckett’s mysterious
attitude and spiritual bent means the two men clash immediately. It’s not long
before Duran views Beckett as a suspect in the ongoing investigation of a
serial killer dubbed “The Angel Killer”. There’s interesting potential in the
developing relationship between Beckett and Duran, and the repercussions of
their developing dynamic on those around them, to be sure – but this central
character relationship never really finds its footing consistently in these
first two issues.
Where Asylum falters
most, though, is in its choice to not flesh out the world in which it takes
place. The setting is ostensibly a Los Angeles of the near future, plagued by
waves of demonic activity and crime. From page one, we know that the villain of
the piece is the devil himself. But throughout the first two issues, we as
readers are given little, if any, particular insight into what sort of wider world
the main characters are living in, and what sort of mythology is playing out
around them. Hints are few and far between – but when they do come, they’re enticing.
It’s clear that Beckett, Duran, and the rest are living in a
world that is different from our own. But the questions of just exactly how and
why are left almost entirely untouched, set aside in favor of a chase narrative
that, while decently engaging, feels as though its floating in the ether,
ungrounded in the world where it ostensibly takes place. That, more than
anything, weakens the impact of the overall story.
Still, the story is intriguing, and there’s potential for
development in all the areas of the book that seem slightly lacking so far.
Perhaps the strongest point is the artwork by Leonardo Manco, which has a very
particular aesthetic and actually does a better job giving the reader a feel
for the world of the story than the narrative itself at times. There are some
truly impressive splash pages, and the demonic designs in particular put an
eye-catching spin on the standard portrayal that you might expect.
Unfortunately, even this strength is undercut by the fact
that the story’s female characters are drawn as voluptuous sex objects rather
than actual people, appearing scantily clad or nude for no discernible reason.
Yes, this is a horror comic book – but there’s a line between reasonable and
gratuitous, and for my money this book crosses it needlessly more than once.
Not only is this tendency frustrating, it’s also distracting from a narrative
perspective. Needless violence, brutalization, and gratuitous nudity do not a
good story make.
For a book with the great John Carpenter’s name on it, Asylum falls short in its first two
issues. There’s enough potential in the pages to hold interest, but also some
serious challenges to overcome in order to make this a truly unique and strong
horror comic.
