Writing:  This is not a feel good comic. The tale of a boy abused since before birth and the forms he finds solace in is disquieting and powerful. I found myself drawn into this story by the powerful imagery as well as the provacative storytelling. This is one to catch if you like emotive storytelling.

Artwork: The artwork while somewhat impressionistic worked well with this tale. I found that the strong use of black and white and shadowing really brought this story to life.

Overall:  4 stars. While definately disturbing this was a good start to this arc. I found myself genuinely moved by this comic and very invested on where this story was going.

Stefan Haas

Writing:  I'm not sure I'd classify this as horror.  To me, horror always invokes a sense of fantasy, the unreal.  This comes off more as a possible reality - even if it is a one-in-a-million worst-case scenario.  The writing does do well in portraying the narration of an 8-year-old (presumably narrated at the time of the story) boy.  In a way, it downplays the more disturbing elements the art emphasizes; and, in doing so, it makes the whole experience that much more unsettling.

Artwork:  The art serves to display the psychotic nature of the protagonist in the way it blends modified photography and the hand-drawn.

Overall: 4 stars.  I'd really like to see how much further this is taken.  Again, I don't know if I'd call it straight horror in that it does delve into the reality of psychosis.  I'm not sure I'd want to meet someone like this in a dark alley, but I'm sure they exist.  That makes the story that much more gripping.

Alex Haas

Writing: Horror is not one of my favorite genres.  With that out of the way, I thought this book was very well done and a bit disturbing.  This introductory issue shows us some of the "highlights" of Jimmy's first eight years, and how they laid a foundation for some dysfunctional behaviors.  There was enough plausibility in the circumstances and events that made this story a bit more real than the average horror book.

Artwork: The variety of styles in this black and white book help to echo the chaos and turmoil in Jimmy's mind.  While I am not fond of fuzzy art, it works where it is used in this book.

Overall: 4 stars. This book was well written, but does have some potentially disturbing language and content.

Robert Weiman

Writing: This is a troubling look at a boy growing up (from embryo to boy) in a less than desirable atmosphere. Basically, here is a child that grows up with everything against him, father leaves before he's born, mom gets boyfriend who beats him, kids at school big on him etc. When all is said and done, it really isn't a happy story for anyone.

Artwork: Not much of a fan of the artwork.  Lots of different styles used and some of them I didn't feel worked for the story. With that being said, most of it did fit the gloomy nature of the story.

Overall: 3 stars. I'll acknowledge the effectiveness of the writing of the book (which in this case may not be such a good thing) but I didn't really care for the artwork and I thought that the story was a bit heavy handed. This issue had the boy encounter virtually EVERY cliched horrible childhood event that you can think of. Its sickening that some children have to put up with 1/10th of what is put in this story let alone all of this.  

Ron Miller