Dark Horse Comics' COLDER Will Give You The Chills

Publisher: DARK HORSE COMICS
Written by: Paul Tobin
Art: Juan Ferreyra

The cover of Colder was the first thing I saw in an ad in some comic or another a year ago. It got lodged in the ol' noggin'. I remember just staring at it. I knew I had to read it, no matter what it was about. The image above freezer burned into my memories. Questions arose. How is he doing that? Is that man dead? Why would you feel the need to scratch your eyeball from inside your own skin?! Was it just because he could? Was he simply a show off? Thus Colder got my attention.

Written by Paul Tobin, with art by Juan Ferreyra, Colder tells the tale of Declan Thomas, a man who used to live in the funny farm. Back in the 40s, a loony bin in Massachusetts, to be exact. Skip ahead to the present, and Declan is still alive, and looks the same as he did on the day of the fire all those years ago. Declan’s body temp is dropping faster than a stripper on a busy night, due to a weird dude named Nimble Jack. A strange man, capable of making you see things which will keep you shivering and gibbering in a psychotic state. He can also make you do things. Things you'd rather not do.

For instance, it’s Boston in present day.  Nimble Jack appears in the first issue, scales a wall like a spider, and talks to a prisoner. At the end of the conversation he is able to…well, it's not pretty.

Paul Tobin’s plot is heating up, with Colder only two issues in. The first issue is a bit of a snooze save for the panel above, and the fire at the crazy palace. I just wish he had written in that people react to the guy who has blue skin. Everyone seems completely fine with this blue guy walking around Boston, and no one stares at him. I don’t know about you, but if I saw a guy with blue skin walk by, it’d take all my energy not to say “holy shit, that guy is blue!”

We are introduced to “The Hungry World” which appears to be what crazy people see. All the buildings have weird architecture, some of the stairs look to be out of that Escher picture, as in upside down. It’s a hoot when you realize, that this is supposed to be how crazy people see the city of Boston. It’s a very Lovecraftian place, and one wonders if the geometry is non-euclidian (if you’re not a huge Lovecraft nerd, Google “Lovecraft,” and copy paste that big word before the parenthesis).

Juan Ferreyra does a great job of illustrating visions of the psychotic, the “Hungry World.” Issue 2 is the stand out, and chock full of good old-fashioned nightmare fuel. For instance, beings which wear cloaks and have multiple eyes, blue skin, and sharp teeth. When juxtaposed with the strange architecture, it makes these creatures somehow even worse.

Colder is only 2 issues in, but it’s already giving me the chills. Tobin, and Ferreyra are a great team, and I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen such an original horror comic. The art is multilayered, the colors pop, and most importantly, it actually has scared me at times. Now, yes, that is the idea, but usually what happens is the panels entertain me, or gross me out. Fear never enters into, simply because, after a while of immersing yourself in scary things, it gets harder. Trust that this comic will creep you out. And, its great seeing a horror comic set in Massachusetts. I’m telling you right now though, if I see a blue dude in Boston, I’m going to point at him and scream.