Damn Nation 1

No, it isn’t Michael Moore’s next documentary, but it is almost as frightening. Sometimes it seems that with all the information and graphic imagery that constantly bombards our brains that we as a society become a little desensitized. So bear with me, and help me with a little experiment. I want you to empty your mind. That was fast. Okay, now just stop and imagine yourself in a pitch-black cargo boat, covered in rust and slime. All that you can see is the beam of your flashlight and all you can smell is the decay of the boats 300 odd dead crew. You walk into a room filled with a pile of dead, naked bodies, all of which you know have been missing for some 16 years. As you turn away, you here a noise and turn around to find that all of the bodies have stood up their pale, bloated bodies standing in silence. Now that is really scary, and Damn Nation has that and much much more!

Yes, once in a while, we find a movie, book, or comic that can strip away years of dulling from our brains and make us remember what it is like to fear for our lives. When we can once again be sensitized to our frightening, ignorant, and bizarre existence on this spinning rock we call dirt. If you want to remember what it is like to be afraid of taking the trash out at night and feel like there is always something watching you, I have good news. Damn Nation will have you shutting all of your blinds and re-checking your room before you shut off the lights for good in no time.

But there is more to making someone afraid to dangle their feet hang off the bed than just animated corpses. Writer Andrew Cosby’s story is compelling and well articulated. You won’t find any cheesy lines or that ridiculous idiocy which horror fans have come to expect in this comic book. Cosby’s gradual increase in suspense and mystery is expertly applied and had me gawking in terror in no time. But Cosby can’t take all the credit. In fact, if Cosby is the director and guider of the terror, then J. Alexander would be its source. Alexander (art) has combined a gritty and foggy drawing style with some seriously spectacular (and extremely morbid) coloring and has, in my opinion, perfected the smeared and abstract style that is seen in so many horror comics by mixing in a strange and creepy stability in with the swirling nightmare that is his backgrounds. I would say don’t read this one in the dark, but it would be funny to see you try.

Damn Nation #1 starts out with the investigation of a large cargo ship carrying illegal Russian weaponry that mysteriously washed up to the Miami Port just in time to plague the living. Whatever really happens down in there, we don’t get to know, because the story suddenly skips four years into the future where a UK special forces unit is headed out to Buffalo, New York for a top secret mission involving a research facility that may or may not have anything to do with that one cargo ship. (Hahaha, but seriously). I can’t imagine what is in store for the intrepid team of dead meat, but I know that I’m glad I’m not one of them.

If you are into horror comics, or even just horror, this is a must have. So hurry and get yours today so when you are lying in bed you can be afraid to open your eyes, but even more afraid to keep ‘em closed. Now that’s living.