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 Pigeons From Hell #1 

Writer: Joe R. Lansdale

Artist: Nate Fox

Colorist: Dave Stewart

Genre: Horror 

Joe R. Lansdale puts a new spin on an old classic with this four-part adaptation of master-storyteller Robert E. Howard’s classic tale of terror Pigeons from Hell. Set in the deep south, Pigeons tells the story of a damned house with a wicked past whose vile form casts a shadow of death on all who dare to enter. At dusk, as the sun slumps below the horizon, scores of pigeons can be seen flocking from the house in waning sunlight. The pigeons, they say, are the souls of the damned escaping from the very bowels of Hell itself.

Joe R. Lansdale (author of such works as Bubba Ho-Tep, The Nightrunners, and The Drive-In) is no stranger to comics, having worked on Batman, The Lone Ranger, Jonah Hex, and Robert E. Howard’s Conan. He is joined by comics newcomer Nathan Fox. Together Lansdale and Fox are a powerhouse of visual storytelling, perfectly suited for the dark and dismal world of Robert E. Howard’s horror classic Pigeons from Hell.

Legendary horror aficionado Joe R. Lansdale puts a new spin on an old classic!

Format: Full color, 32 pages Price: $2.99  

This was one of the titles I had on my Standing Order at Forbidden Planet and which,yet again,never appeared –thanks,FP.  However,I bumped into old pal Piers Hazel and as we talked he saw a couple issues hiding behind other comics –score.

With a title like Pigeons From Hell you might assume the story is based in Bristol! Though I have no problem with pigeons –some of my best friends were pigeons [I’d not let my sister marry one,though].

The first thing that struck me is Nathan Fox’s art style which has an odd look to it but this works.  No problems there –and the scenes are well executed. However,there is the added dimension of Dave Stewart’s colouring.  This gives the whole book a really strange feel to it and adds more to the rather spooky ending to this issue.

Considering this is an old Robert E. Howard story,Lansdale has done a good piece of adapting,though from start to finish this was laid out and written almost like a film. 

Hmm. Dark Horse turning a comic into a movie?  Nah. Me and my mind!

I would genuinely recommend this to you if you are into horror or just looking for something other than super heroics.

But pigeons.  Really!  Never heard that myth and if it were Bristol would be The City Of The Weird…..

oh