Broken Frontier

Chris TinklerDark Horse delves deep into Danny Duncan’s mind. Don’t trust your eyes while reading The Scream.

Things just don’t seem right in Danny Duncan’s life. Between his awfully grating job at the post office, living and dealing with his senile father, and his recent stay at a mental facility, Danny sure has a lot to deal with… and this is before the story even begins.

Things aren’t at all what they seem in Dark Horse Comics’ The Scream. It seems as though whenever Danny daydreams, anyone in his presence seem to "live out" his fantasies. Also, at the same time, Danny seems to share a body (or at least a subconscious) with a large red beast, potentially the titular "Scream."

The story is interesting, and Peter David’s writing and dialogue are top notch, as I’ve come to expect. The characterization he provides to the cast is solid as ever. As for the art, I must admit that I’ve never been a real Bart Sears fan. That said, his pencils, though a bit blocky, are rather well-suited for a story of this kind. I feel it’s unfortunate that his work isn’t given any favors by the mucking up that occurred through the inking and coloring process. I feel that the inks made the story look muddy, and the coloring made everyone look, I don’t know, a bit too… rosy for my tastes.

This story is well paced, and all of the characters were rounded out rather well for an opening issue. The intriguing conspiracy that begins toward the end of the book works well, which is making me look forward to the next issue, and it also nicely parlayed with the opening scene of the issue. It is fittingly confusing and not entirely clear whether or not Belle Foux was an actual event, or simply a fever dream yanked from Danny Duncan’s imagination.

The entire tale is woven like a disjointed nightmare, where you can’t really rely on your eyes to tell you if what you’re seeing is actually what’s there.

If you’re in the mood for a rather light-hearted nightmare, Dark Horse’s The Scream #1 comes highly recommended.