"The Abandoned"
By Ross Campbell
Being a fan of Ross Campbell's other works (Wet Moon,
Water Baby, and various fan art he post on mooncalfe.deviantart.com) I
will honestly admit that my initial purchasing of this book was just a
financial splurge fueled by my gothy gleefulness at seeing his name, and
the post-apocalyptic character designs on the cover. At further
examination of my purchase, I noticed that it was a Tokyo Pop
publication, and raised a curious brow. Being a faithful fan however, I
dived right in, and what I discovered was truly awesome.
As unbiased as I can be, "The Abandoned" is an enthralling, fun, and fairly intelligent look at the inner workings of the human condition, and the breakdown of an individuals morals and character during a "zombie apocalypse." The story starts off (as most of his do) with some carefully chosen lyrics from a well listened to gothic music group such as Bella Morte, the Cruxshadows, or the Birthday Massacre casting the atmosphere for what lays before you. We are then introduced to our female protagonist Rylie. Rylie, a dark skinned, 20 something beauty, more Suicidegirl than Cover Girl. She awakens in the blistering heat on the floor of her Georgia home (Where most of Ross stories take place.) to hear a dreadful hurricane rolling in, and is overwhelmed with excitement that it has been named "Hurricane Riley." Her day revolves around the arrival of her "hopeful new girlfriend" Naomi, the assisting of her friend's ice cream parlor, and her job as an aid at a retirement home. Without revealing too much of the story, this is where Ross, as a writer, truly begins to excel. While maintaining the horrific horror elements he never loses track of the human condition.
The story is well paced. The characters maintain the strengths of themselves and their relationships, as well as their flaws, selfishness, and ugliness coming to the surface even as the world falls around them, bringing demise and downfall to some. There is even some growth amongst the scared group of survivors put together by these terrible circumstances . An honest to goodness great read, with great art to boot, and will definitely hook you as you read pages from Rylie's notebook the whole apocalypse goes down.
Chock full of jokes any horror fan would get, and amazing character designs portraying "real" people (For once in a comic/graphic novel.), I would give Ross Campbell's "The Abandoned" 4 1/2 FINGERS LEFT, only chewing through half of one as he has yet to add more to "Rylie the Survivor."
By: D. L. Winters
As unbiased as I can be, "The Abandoned" is an enthralling, fun, and fairly intelligent look at the inner workings of the human condition, and the breakdown of an individuals morals and character during a "zombie apocalypse." The story starts off (as most of his do) with some carefully chosen lyrics from a well listened to gothic music group such as Bella Morte, the Cruxshadows, or the Birthday Massacre casting the atmosphere for what lays before you. We are then introduced to our female protagonist Rylie. Rylie, a dark skinned, 20 something beauty, more Suicidegirl than Cover Girl. She awakens in the blistering heat on the floor of her Georgia home (Where most of Ross stories take place.) to hear a dreadful hurricane rolling in, and is overwhelmed with excitement that it has been named "Hurricane Riley." Her day revolves around the arrival of her "hopeful new girlfriend" Naomi, the assisting of her friend's ice cream parlor, and her job as an aid at a retirement home. Without revealing too much of the story, this is where Ross, as a writer, truly begins to excel. While maintaining the horrific horror elements he never loses track of the human condition.
The story is well paced. The characters maintain the strengths of themselves and their relationships, as well as their flaws, selfishness, and ugliness coming to the surface even as the world falls around them, bringing demise and downfall to some. There is even some growth amongst the scared group of survivors put together by these terrible circumstances . An honest to goodness great read, with great art to boot, and will definitely hook you as you read pages from Rylie's notebook the whole apocalypse goes down.
Chock full of jokes any horror fan would get, and amazing character designs portraying "real" people (For once in a comic/graphic novel.), I would give Ross Campbell's "The Abandoned" 4 1/2 FINGERS LEFT, only chewing through half of one as he has yet to add more to "Rylie the Survivor."
By: D. L. Winters
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