Review – The Thing on the Doorstep Part One
Review – The Thing on the Doorstep Part One
Writer: Simon Birks
Artist: Willi Roberts
Lettering: Rob Jones
Publisher: Blue Fox Comics
Format: Kickstarter
Available: Kickstarter Closes in February 2022
Part One
Arkham Asylum, 1933, Daniel Upton inexplicably shoots his lifelong friend Edward Derby in the face, killing him instantly. What would drive Daniel to perform such a horrific act? Who was Edward Derby, really? And is he, in fact, dead?
Follow the harrowing story of a doomed friendship and delve into the mysteries in this classic Lovecraftian horror, where nothing is at it seems! Part One covers the early friendship of the two men to Edward’s wedding day to Asenath, his mysterious bride.
Writer: Simon Birks
The Thing on the Doorstep is adapted by Blue Fox Comics by co-founder and award-winning writer Simon Birks. His other comics include Robyn, Gone, Hexes, Sinners, The Girl in the Midnight Gown and The Shadow Over Innsmouth, which have all successfully raised funds for printing using the Kickstarter platform.
Birks creates a dark Lovecraftian style Gothic Horror in this first issue with Daniel starting the issue with a headshot to kill his lifelong friend Edward. We then spend the rest of the issue following how the friendship grew as frail young Edward dabbles in the dark arts while Daniel grows, marries and starts a family. The pace is lightning fast and each page is roughly a year in the friendship so we only get a few panels to learn the key issues in the story before jumping forward. The final pages settle in late 1928 as Edward meets Asenath at a secret society and the issue finishes with so much left unsaid, leaving you demanding more, more, more!
Artist: Willi Roberts
Roberts has chosen a very muted gothic palette and style to marry up with Birks dark, fast-paced script. As we time-hop on each page the characters and settings subtly change as they grow up. the subtle little nods to horror seem to focus around the character’s eyes as can be seen with great effect in the panel below.
Overall Thoughts
Start 2022 with a good old fashioned gothic horror and support local Scottish artists and writers by backing this Kickstarter. The publisher has fulfilled all previous titles so for just a few quid that you would punt on the lottery stick it here and enjoy this foreboding new title. It has Netflix written all over it and it’s great to see such strong Scottish talent working at a level comparable with Tynion or Bunn. If you enjoyed our review of The Thing on the Doorstep Part One then leave a comment or rating below.
[yasr_multiset setid=1] [yasr_visitor_multiset setid=1]If you enjoyed our review, look out for The Thing on the Doorstep Part One on Kickstarter
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Sink your teeth into our preview of the first few pages below
