[10/4/19 just read this again while listening to NIN's The Downward Spiral and actually accidentally timed it out PERFECTLY to finish both at the same time. 11/10 would recommend new level of edgy depressed 90s bullshit lol]

Every year around Halloween I reread this comic [and rewatch the movie] and every year I just sit around for weeks afterward trying to write a review that will actually do it justice but alas I am just not that great with words. It is just one of the most haunting, heart-breaking, and atmospheric graphic novels I've read and I definitely recommend it.

By all rights it should read as slightly ridiculous. I mean on the surface it's about a guy in goth makeup on a revenge murder spree interspersed with random poetry, lyrics from The Smiths, and quotes like There is a man, playing a violin, and the strings are the nerves in his own arm. But it all comes together so beautifully that it just works.

And if you're like me and automatically give most things a hard pass if they feature 'dead wife as plot device', maybe give this one a try because it's really not like all the other ones. You can tell that O'Barr's writing comes from a place of genuine pain and not just 'well i don't know what else to do with women in stories so might as well rape and kill them' like you see from a lot of authors who use this premise.