Doomed (Comic)

Doomed is a four-issue comic published by IDW, which is known for doing comics about zombies, horror, and TV shows. Thanks to this series, I looked into IDW and found a treasure trove, some of which I'll hopefully discuss in the future.

The series takes stories by noted horror authors and illustrates them. Each issue has four illustrated stories, based on works by four authors (each author has one story in each issue). There's Robert Bloch, who deserves more recognition than he gets, seeing as he wrote the famous book Psycho on which the movie is based; F. Paul Wilson, who's best known for his Repairman Jack character; David J. Schow, well-known in the splatterpunk genre; and Richard Matheson, author of the often-filmed I Am Legend. The average person will probably have only heard of one of those authors (I admit I didn't know any but Matheson before picking up the comic), but after reading these comics, every horror fan should want to seek out all they can find by any of them. (Or at the least, three out of the four.) The stories give you a taste of what horror fiction that isn't King or Rice is like, while providing good art that enhances the stories. As is common for IDW, the art isn't typical; it can look uneven and messy, but it parallels the stories, which feature humans, and the world itself, as an uneven and strange and hostile place.

There's also more to these comics than just the stories. Within each issue is something about the four authors, lengthy reads that provide insight to the minds of the writers and the horror genre itself. Furthermore, there are short stories (just text, no pictures) that give you even more to read. Each issue will take a few hours to get through, making it well worth the money spent.

If you see Doomed somewhere, grab it. If you don't know much beyond mainstream horror, it'll teach you a lot, and if do know more, you'll be pleased to see these authors getting the attention they deserve.