Some say that you haven’t lived until you’ve dropped a hit of acid on some Pink Floyd. They say that everything tastes better, looks better, and man oh man, does that bass guitar swim like a golden dragon in the plump, pink clouds of the early morning sun. Sometimes though, sometimes it’s not enough and that’s where Mama and her Bone Parish steps in. BOOM Studio’s newest drug chronicle explores the depths some thrill seekers will go to find new and exciting highs and the empire behind its creation and distribution. While the story doesn’t exactly break the mold on a family run drug kingdom with underlying tension, the overall idea is pretty cool and really shines a light on the human need to experience everything.
Bone Parish, as stated, is about drugs. But not just any drugs, a drug that’ll get you ripped out of your freaking skull! No one quite knows what’s in it, but they do know that’s it’s expensive as hell and only a very few people supply it; those people being Mama Grace and her family. You see, the real secret is that the drugs are actually made out of the ashes of dead people and those dead people have made the family very rich, which also means plenty of conflicts on how the business should be run, both from within and outside the family. When a high roller from NYC comes to visit Mama’s home base in New Orleans to offer to buy her company, she firmly says no, knowing that she hasn’t seen the last of him. Suddenly, things around her begin to spin out of control as both the drug and the business begins to turn against her plans.
The writer, Cullen Bunn, is a long time staple of the horror genre and though the crime kingpin element has been done to death, it’s really the drug that’s the backbone of the story and will most likely end up careening the story. It’s a bit of bummer there’s not much originality in the former, especially with how many horror comics are mixing crime boss elements (Moonshine, American Vampire, The Black Monday Murders), but perhaps Bunn knew there wasn’t much he could say that wasn’t already written by Scott Snyder. That being said, the idea of a drug being made out of the bones of dead people does bring some interesting questions, such as: would you snort your dead father just to have a few more days with him? Perhaps the bones of your favorite dead musician, so you can exchange lyrical notes? How much would you pay for a once-in-a-lifetime experience? That’s the real meat of the comic right there; the human need to experience bigger, better, and more unique things than the next person, even if it’s at the cost of disturbing the dead. This comic addresses the arrogance of man’s need to ‘live’ and what happens when that ‘experience’ is tired of being abused.
The accompanying art by Jonas Scharf is sharp and clean with just the right amount of harsh edges and dark shadows to announce: “this is a horror thriller comic!” In other words, you know what you’re getting into once you flip it open. He’s got that mid-2000s Hellblazer style that’s been defining Vertigo from its DC counterpart for the past 13 years or so. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if DC snags him up to do some work for them in the near future. The only thing that’s a bit strange is Mama Grace’s design. It has been clearly stated that she has several adult children but she herself doesn’t look a day over 35, though it’s hard to tell if that was a design overlook or a deliberate choice that will be explored later on. That aside, Scharf is a solid paring to Bunn’s words and a combo for a pretty solid read.
Bone Parish #1 is out now!