I thought this was going to be a good little read, if a bit quirky, like most of Gail Simone's work. Boy, was I wrong. This is a whole different level of horror, to the point where I was apprehensive about turning the pages for fear of what might come next. Astrid Mueller is a self-help guru. When Chloe Pearce's husband reads her self-help book then subsequently commits suicide, Chloe makes it her mission to investigate Mueller, but finds herself embroiled in a cross-dimensional conspiracy.Simon...

Individual issue reviews: #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6Total review score: 2.5I'm rounding down though because I think some of those 3 star ratings were me being generous.

So people hype the f*** out of Simone’s work but between the stuff I’ve read by her in anthologies and then this mess...What’s it about?After a woman’s husband commits suicide she tries to investigate some things and then ends up getting into stuff that involves a weird, kinda generic cult.Why it gets 1 star:The story is dumb, poorly written and often confusing.The art is so f***ing ugly. The covers for the volumes and issues of this have gorgeous, wonderful art. The artist for the covers should...

It's all very WEIRD in this here book, in fact, it's WEIRDY WEIRD WEEIIIRD. At times I found it hard to follow, in that way when an author and/or artist doesn't seem to know how sequential storytelling works..?This is one that depends on what happens in following volumes. I'm not entirely convinced, let's say.The art is good, sometimes pretty, mostly uncomfortable.3.5 of the starsReading this with Level 8 Bullshitter, Anne.

I'm not feeling very well so this will be brief. Gail Simone and her partners in grime have really done it for me with this book. A great new horror comic from Vertigo that I actually found genuinely gruesome and pretty damned creepy. If this was a movie or a tv show, I'd be watching it from my 'safe corner' (it's totally monster-proof).Simone has really set the stage well and left me wanting moooooooorrrre...Recommended to fans of seriously twisted shit in the vein of Clive Barker.Now, if you'l...

If my husband hadn't told me to finish this book, I wouldn't have made it past the first issue. The storytelling starts out jerky, uneven, and confusing. I'm glad I kept going because it does smooth out, and it's delightfully creepy after that in a very destabilizing way. Every character I like also terrifies me because I'm expecting something awful will happen with them later. By the end of the volume, I still don't know if I'm supposed to trust that ANYONE in the cast has an accurate perceptio...

Before reading this book: what the fuck?During: what the fuck?After: what THE FUCK??? This book fucked me up, man.

I have no idea what I just read, but I enjoyed it!This graphic novel is only for fans of the totally weird and oddly gruesome. If you are easily offended or troubled by disturbing images, nudity, etc., this is not one for you to try. But, if you are okay with a bit of excessive content, I feel like it does generally support the story and atmosphere here. Usually by the end of volume one, I have at least a passable idea of what is going on. In this case, I know the characters and what has been ha...

This is exactly the kind of creeptastic shit that used to keep me up at night as a kid. Hell it still might. "You have a fine sleepy-sweet night, hear?" No, I don't think I will actually. This is magnificent and brilliant and psychologically terrifying all wrapped up into one.

2ish stars.Gruesome and disturbing. Which is the point, we're meant to feel disgusted and uncomfortable. A lot of the content seems like it's specifically targeted to that, regardless of whether it's good or relevant storytelling. Speaking of the story, for the first several issues I was really confused and didn't care much about what was going on. I don't know if it was meant to be confusing to build tension and create mystery or if it was just poor storytelling. The fact that I can't tell is n...

Chloe’s fiancé committed suicide after discovering the dark secrets of a Scientology/cult-like group called the Honest World Foundation headed by the charismatic and mysterious Astrid Mueller. Now Chloe wants answers for why her husband-to-be chose to die, what this organisation is really about… and what is the Clean Room? Gail Simone’s first Vertigo book is a messy horror/sci-fi wannabe-Grant Morrison-y comic that succeeds at inept storytelling and little else besides. The opening sequence in p...

So, apparently I'm on a kick of reading really, really weird comics. I blame Hoopla, they keep recommending me weird shit. (Which I then read, feeding into their algorithms, sooo... I also blame myself.) Sometimes weird works, and sometimes, it doesn't. This one (despite having a lot of not-so-great ratings on Goodreads) worked for me. It's gross and creepy and over the top, and I kinda loved that? I mean, I liked it enough to immediately load vol. 2 on my Hoopla account. I'll (probably, maybe)

I wouldn't say this was scary at all, though that might just be me, but it certainly was entertaining! I was a bit confused what was going on at times but by the end the plot and the world building was becoming a bit more clear. The art was a bit boring at times, but that might just be because i've been reading some stuff with really detailed artwork, but the gore was really well done. Will for sure be reading the next few volumes bc i'm interested to see where this goes!! The premise is really

What if Scientologists were the good guys?You know, underneath it all...This is pretty out there but I did quite enjoy it. Especially the part where it took my expectations and flipped them around on several things.It kind of feels like Kirkman's Outcast in that there's something evil and alien (demonic?) invading our world and sometimes our bodies.But it has far better art.You don't get a clear picture of what's happening, but it's ok. It has that good vs evil feel, so I think there's enough he...

I’m afraid I couldn’t get into this fantasy/horror/mystery mash-up that reminded me in turn of Brubaker’s Fatale, Spencer’s Morning Glories, and Urasawa's Monster. I found the plot confusing in places, and I guess at the end of the day the story just did not feel all that relevant to me. To be fair, though, my reading experience last night was probably somewhat tempered by the unfolding Trumpocalypse: While I was supposed to feel creeped out by the cultish ways of the mysterious Honest World Fou...

I liked the concept a lot — I mean, I really dug the idea of it — but the execution was missing something. I think it was mainly the dialogue that never seemed to do a good job of holding my attention, no matter how interesting the goings-on were.

This is probably the only time I have read a book and not fully know what’s going on but liked it. Even though I don’t know everything that’s happening, I can tell it’s going to eventually give us all the details eventually and I’m on board for the ride. There are these creatures that are from somewhere, I’m sure we will find out where later, and Astrid Mueller and her company are trying to find them and stop them. The artwork is great and depicts some creepy ass monsters. In this volume, a smal...

Wow, that was unexpected. This seems more like a Warren Ellis or Grant Morrison story than the Gail Simone I'm used to. There is a lot going on here, and I'm not sure I totally follow it yet. At first that was frustrating, but by the end I was just happy to be along for the ride. I'm looking forward to future installments.

Uhhh so my wife asked me what this is about. My answer? Has lots of monsters, blood, and tits. I really don't know what happened here. Don't get me wrong it's not bad at all. I just was confused a lot of the time. Strange shit just kept happening every single page. The demons or aliens or whatever they are were full on exorcist on your ass scary. "Fuck your little cunt face" and stuff like that. Scary for sure. Also the dialog stayed entertaining throughout. Never once did I feel bored. I also e...

I have no idea what I just read, but I loved it. The basic gist of this seems to be that there are parasites in this world that only a few people can see, and there's a group masquerading as a self-help guru that is trying to stop them.The Good: Even though I know very little of what's going on, I find myself constantly wanting to know more. I never expected this kind of series out of Gail Simone. She's always written straight-up superheroes, but she's done a great job at getting into that weird...