New Comics Wednesday Review: SINK #3

SINK #3  (Comix Tribe, December 20, 2017 release date) “A Head Full Of Wasps”.  Story by John Lees. Art and Colours by Alex Cormack.  Letters by Shawn Lee.  Logo by Tim Daniel.  

 

      Sink #3 will make you see red.  Blood red.  It’s splashed all over the pages of this story, seeping into each and every panel, even before the violence begins. “A Head Full Of Wasps” speaks to the buzzing that occurs in so many brainpans in these troubled and violent times - - and the red that is visualized when some of us experience injustice, brutality, cruelty, or abuse and then seek retribution, revenge, and bloody justice. 

 

       If only everyone could read this story, and then remember it whenever their cheeks flush with anger - - and think before they act. 

 

     Yeah, I’m a pipe dreamer.  I also just set out to write a review.  Don’t know why I’m treating SINK #3  like this is a morality fable.  Have you ever read a simple but well-written story that leads to your thinking outside the box about other issues?  Good stories will do that to you.

 

    If your local comic-shop was savvy enough to order SINK #3, then go there and buy this while there are still copies remaining.  If they don’t have it, it’s not their fault. SINK #1 sold out and surprised everyone. The good thing is that you don’t have to have the first two issues to appreciate the third one.  Every issue is a stand-alone story. The only commonality is that they occur in the troubled Sinkhill borough of Glasgow, Scotland. Oh yeah, and they’re all horrific in one sense or another. 

 

   I believe that in general, the comic book marketplace always under-estimates the power of a good horror comic to sell in above-average quantities.  I confess to being a little prejudiced.  Horror, in my opinion, is the one genre that benefits the most from the features of the comics medium - - when a writer and artist work in sync to engage an audience.  Just like a well-executed film.  Hopefully, this helps you understand my excitement about SINK.

   The story in Issue #3 begins outside of Sinkhill, in the city of Edinburgh.  Rab Kilcolm was a violent and vicious man, ready to engage in battle whenever he or any of his close associates were offended. In the words of a Sinkhill resident, he was “the hardest bastard to ever stomp through Sinkhill.”

 

    Ten years ago, he saw the error of his ways. His only hope for redemption was to move away to Edinburgh, where he changed his name, and made a major lifestyle change in order to walk away from his past. 

 

     Now, the offspring of his former best friend seek his help. Their father was brutally beaten to death in a fight with a pub owner, who remains free due to the protection of an influential crime boss. They want Kilcolm to help them get revenge and justice in the only method he’s ever utilized to obtain anything — through violence. 

 

   Kilcolm returns to Sinkhill and visits the pub, and you can guess the rest of the story.  The pub is a seedy, dangerous place where the bartender wears a helmut, studded leather and protective gear. 

 

  The mysterious blue van with the maniacal clowns also returns this issue and plays a minor role, like ice cream on the cake.  

 

  BC RATING SYSTEM

 

 STORY:  Powerful.  You can never wash the most horrid sins of the past from your hands, as a marvelous scene drives home.  I’ve tried not to spoil this with too many details. If you are a horror aficionado like me, then you want this issue.  3 POINTS.

 

ART: Some of Cormarks best work.  The fight scenes are graphic and skillful. He doesn’t spare the red ink, and seasons the story with it in commodious amounts.  The severity of the story is painted all over the characters’ faces, so expressively detailed. 3 POINTS.

 

COVER: To the point. Read it, and know why. 2 POINTS.

 

READ AGAIN?  Yes, but take a breather in-between to avoid numbness.  1 POINT.

 

RECOMMEND? Yes. The whole series deserves more attention. 1 POINT.

 

TOTAL RATING: 10 POINTS. Perfection. There are a limited amount of books out there deserving a 10 out of 10 ranking, so pick this up.