Broken Frontier

The horrific legacy of a murderous doll named Chucky continues in a brand new series that picks up from events from the 5th film in the series.

I am sure by now everyone is well accustomed to the murderous deeds of serial killer Charles Lee Ray. In five films he went from man to doll and continued his lust for mass murder with reckless abandon. The last film was probably the most cathartic since Chucky was torn from his wife and child and left to fend for himself. Now in an interesting new twist, Devil’s Due Publishing has picked up the reigns to continue Chucky’s exploits once again.

This time though, Chucky is back in Illinois and seemingly fresh from his troubles in the 5th film of the series. He’s feeling invigorated and in a blink of an eye he’s attacking a group of teenagers. It doesn’t take him long to hack and slash his way with glee, before leaving a pile of dead bodies in his wake. From there he decides to pay a visit to Barry Preston (appearing in the 4th film) who’s being retired from the police force. Of course Chucky has a score to settle with him, since Barry was one of three meddling individuals who stopped him dead in his tracks. Oddly enough though, Jesse and Jade (who also appeared in part 4) put in an appearance at Barry’s retirement ceremony, allowing Chucky to have the opportunity to kill three birds with one stone.

The story to this first issue was written by Brian Pulido, who’s no stranger to writing horror comics. His experience with the genre certainly shows off well here, and I liked the way he integrated previous continuity from the films into a brand new adventure. He obviously did his homework first of all, and then he successfully handled all of Chucky’s dialogue rather convincingly. As I was reading the issue I could almost picture actor Brad Dourif in my mind spouting off his lines in that famous cackling voice. I really thought Pulido nailed it the first time out.

The art was handled by Josh Meadows and his best pages began in the first segment as Chucky did what he does best. I liked the way he introduced Chucky at the beginning and there was a very effective splash page that packed a punch. Now with that kind of gut punch, you can rest assured the remaining pages are all going to be a treat, and they were. His storytelling was paced nicely and it built up into a crescendo to cap off an exciting finish. I am sure the next issue will pick right up where it left off and I am looking forward to the next installment.

I know in the past some comic book spin-off projects related to horror movie franchise characters have all been met with lukewarm success. In this case though, I felt that the creative team conjured up a tale that rivaled the energy and ferocity of the Child’s Play films. If you liked Chucky in the films spouting off at his victims and then proceeding to do vile things to them, then you’re going to like this book. I thought the formula worked like a charm then, and I also think it works here too. I say kudos to Brian Pulido and co. and good luck to them with future installments.