Broken Frontier

Can one of the most original indy books of 2005 – 2006 get any better?

Can I continue to, month after month, rave about its greatness on these very review pages? If you came and tied me in a straight jacket, I would continue to screech Elsinore’s praises until I was gagged…and then, as an example of the next stage of human evolution, I would continue my rants telepathically and you would all hear me in your tortured minds…

Monkeys, madness and murder! The catchphrase for this issue, the absolute best of the series yet, couldn’t be more apt. This issue is told almost entirely in the third person as we read through Dr Murchison’s diary, his chronicle of his time at the Elsinore Asylum.

As this chapter of the Elsinore tale starts, Murchison is struggling to re-define himself after his life and character are irrevocably changed due to the events of last issue (see my review of Elsinore #4 here: http://brokenfrontier.com/reviews/details.php?id=649). As I also mentioned in the last review, Murchison is now steeled with a new-found sense of purpose after he aimlessly wandered into Elsionre in the first place.

Oddly in this issue, Murchison starts to display a warped form of Stockholm Syndrome, as he begins to develop an appreciation of Elsinore’s patients and their awesome capabilities.

Murchison’s new will is focused on group therapy sessions with a difference. With the complicity of the asylum’s director, Roch, the doctor has pulled together a team of inmates who he intends to use as a crack unit in a raid on the gates of Hell. The fact that Murchison has formed this group from the ranks of Elsinore’s most deranged isn’t lost on the doctor – why else would he be conducting the "therapy sessions" with a loaded gun in his hand?

The formation of this team of crackpots sets off an alarm when another of the inmates discovers that the patients are not in their cells. When the room is stormed by the director and some heavily armed guards, more secrets about the way into Hell are revealed –the identity and form of the way gate is truly, awesomely terrifying.

Lillie-Paetz’s narrative takes a huge leap in this issue. It is far more focused than in any of the book’s previous volumes and when reading #5 it becomes increasingly clear that this issue is the glue which holds the series together. I have to give Ken credit because, he has told me, and others, that all would soon make sense, and in this issue the story is at its most accessible, making for a crystallized, sharp and engaging read.

The final pages of this issue are thrillingly tense and riveting, delivering on the promise of monkeys, madness and murder. It is an apt cliffhanger that ensures you will be back for more in #6.

This time around, there is only one artist on the book – Mark Sparacio. After the handful of artists contributing to #4 the bridge has been crossed and Sparacio makes Elsinore his own. His lines are clean and focused, marked by rich and expressive characters who ooze emotion. When the story turns truly cosmic, as it does at this issue’s half way point, or darkly terrifying, as it does at the very end, Sparacio’s art takes this all in his stride. There is no doubt in my mind that Elsinore must be a difficult book to draw, but Sparacio meets and ascends the challenge.

Through his expressive palette, Beaulieu has marked Elsinore as his own and has made himself an indispensable part of the book’s creative team. I love how he can seamlessly leap from murky shadow to arcane fireworks to bloody horror with ease.

To this point, I have not yet mentioned the lettering in this book, but Marshall Dillon deserves kudos for enhancing the pages with his work. With much of this issue told through Murchison writing in his diary, most of the captions appear, effectively enough, as small torn out pieces of note pad paper.

I really loved this issue. Elsinore remains one of the most frighteningly original comics on the spinner racks. This book’s appeal is so much broader than you might assume. For those of you who loved The X-Files or Millennium, Elsinore is the book for you. This is intelligent, twisted and thrilling horror that issue after issue tests the boundaries of comic book story telling.

Elsinore is the most original and captivating comics out there today.