Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – Book 2 – The Chosen, Reviewed…

‘Intense’ is a word that gets thrown around a lot, particularly in reference to Simon’s artwork, but in the case of this book it’s absolutely warranted. It’s intense in the artwork and in the density of the storytelling, intense in the colourwork and the compostions; Every page is hypnotically dark, conveying an a claustrophobic sense of looming dread; It’s all fire and shadows, the mood matching the story perfectly. The hellscapes are uncomfortable, the world above even more so.

This atmosphere is central to the experience of Four Horsemen: This is not a sunny, happy place where heroes save the day. This is a place where heroes have their families butchered and team up with serial killers, whores and cowards to save the world from Armageddon.

And it’s beautiful.

If the central contradiction of this story is that the corrupt, the tainted souls must be mankind’s saviours, give me corruption every time…

In my review of Book 1 of this series I mentioned the pace of Mendheim et al’s story, and Book 2 doesn’t let up. It rips through the standard action tropes (assembly of the team, enough backstory to keep you interested but not bored,) and heads for the central characters’ inevitable showdown with their alter-egos we’ve been building to all issue. This being the second of three books, it’s the ‘difficult second act’ where traditionally the action sags as the reader gears up for the finale in End of Days, but we’re not given any respite on that score. Breathe fast, don’t blink…

Bisley’s compostions continue to spur the reader forward, Mendheim’s graphic design is outstanding and Chad Fidler’s colours remain as stunning as they were in Book 1…

All in all, I can’t wait to see how this concludes. I suspect it’ll be darker, bloodier and substantially less happy than your average winter’s tale!

Tomorrow : I review the final book in the series – End of Days!