- Writer: Doug Wagner
- Artist: Daniel Hillyard
- Colorist: Dave Stewart
- Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
- Designer: Sasha E. Head
- Editor: Kevin Gardner
Thanks to Image Comics for the review copy!
At first glance of the cover for Vinyl, I assumed it was going to be a trippy look at the 70s music. It turns out the title is much more than that, with possible inspiration coming more from Silence of the Lambs than Almost Famous.
Vinyl starts with the oft used “two days from now” glimpse into the future that drops us in the middle of a violent confusing situation that the rest of the book will build up to. The amount of blood in these opening panels quickly clued me in that this wasn’t going to be a book about guys hanging out in a record shop. Instead, the issue establishes the main characters as an FBI agent and the serial killer he is tasked with catching.
Vinyl’s bright color palette belies the often dark material, with buckets of blood and plenty of death. However, the art fits the tone of the book, which is more quirky than a typical horror story. The lettering also deserves praise. Music feels almost like a supporting character, and the lyrics are dynamically spread across the panels. The use of large bold letters in the speech bubbles helps envision how the dialogue is delivered. The lettering for the sound effects adds to the action. The action, while bloody, is easy to follow and well choreographed.
If you like stories about charismatic serial killers (like The Following only better), you will like this title. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and I’m definitely interested in seeing what’s next in the Vinyl playlist.
VINYL #1 is now available.
Do you plan to read the title? Have you already? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter.
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