Basilisk #3: That Taste for Blood

In Basilisk #3, we get to see the Chimera’s power on display. The state and local authorities, alerted to the massacre at the diner in Basilisk #2, find the Chimera at your standard American highway rest stop. The Chimera make short work of the police men and police women before removing any bystanders.

Manny is telepathic. I believe he’s always known where Regan is and has finally told his siblings. The Chimera are coming to get Regan back.

B-story

The flashbacks continue to paint the tale of what happened two years ago in the Town of Kingsly. Regan remembers more than she is telling Hannah. Was Hannah set-up to become one of the Faithful?

The Words

Three issues into this series, and every character is already well defined. There are strong character relationships happening in a horror story. The Chimera are more than one-dimensional villains. There’s love between Manny and Regan. Vanessa is coldly calculating and controlling. Jimmy-Boy is uncontrollable. Cara appears to have a child’s thoughts.

The Art

Jonas Scharf art and Alex Guimarães colors are what pulled me into Basilisk. The painted flashbacks work really well to separate the past from the present but still look in continuity. The character designs are excellent. The facial and body acting superb. Fans of horror won’t be disappointed by its depiction.

Between the Panels

The creative team has done an inventive job of leaving just enough out of the horror scenes to give your imagination room to fill in the really nasty bits. It’s a smart way to handle bloody, guts  horror to pull in both casual and hard-core horror fans.

Themes

If you experience mind-shattering horror, are you corrupted by it? If you saw a godlike being, would your innate belief in something more compel you to follow it?  Or, are the Chimera purposefully doing something to their victims?

World Building

The Chimera come out of the mountains to a small town. Hannah introduces Regan to Grey Ridge (an old resort-hotel).

Who’s in this Issue

• Vanessa (touch)
• Jimmy-Boy (taste)
• Cara (smell)
• Manny (hearing)
• Regan (sight)
• Barret
• Erica (Hannah’s daughter)
• Hannah

Favorite Quote

“See how they look at us? With fear. With awe.” Jimmy-Boy

Who will like It?

If you like these series, you’ll like Basilisk.

• Stranger Things
• The Walking Dead
• The Hills Have Eyes

I Need More

• BOOM! Chat has a video introduction of Basilisk on YouTube. It’s a good behind the scenes look at the series.
• Check out Jonas Scharf on Art Station  or Instagram
• Bushwhacked, Episode 3 of Firefly, deals with similar themes of spiritual corruption.