Warning: SPOILERS for Plunge #1
Coming hot off the success of Netflix’s live-action adaptation of his graphic novel Locke & Key, writer Joe Hill is diving full steam back into comic books, with Plunge just the latest in his curated line of DC horror stories from Hill House Comics.
Inspired by 1980s horror films, Joe Hill has returned to his unique form of storytelling style with Plunge (along with artist Stuart Immonen). When a tsunami strikes off the coast of Russia, a mysterious distress call is heard, sent from a ship lost forty years prior. The company who owns the ship enlists the help of Carpenter’s Salvage, along with Marine Biologist Mariah Lamb to set off towards the signal and see what they can recover. The story follows this team as they begin a mission to solve this mysterious reappearance, but – as to be expected with Hill – there’s a deeper, creepier mystery waiting to be unwrapped.
The series wears its homages on its sleeve (and the names of its cast). And as Hill explains to SYFY Wire, the first page to the last is written knowing full well the genre that was shaped before Plunge:
Readers won’t have to look hard to see this influence on the final page of Plunge #1, when Mariah partly solves the mystery of the missing crew members. Stumbling upon a body white as a ghost, and looking every bit the corpse it should, the combination of blood, worms, and a grim smile are the definition of breathtaking body horror. As the worms speak to Mariah, both she and the readers can ask but one question: is this a result of the booze, or the beginning of the true mystery at hand?
If you talk to all of the special effects guys from any set, and you ask them what the high-water mark was for 1980s horror, everyone agrees. It’s John Carpenter’s The Thing [whose effects were created by Rob Bottin], you know. It was the decapitated head growing spider legs, the body splitting open and become a giant monster, the dog foaming and the legs splitting out of his side. All of that stuff was so visceral and intense. That particular film is one of the few remarkable landmarks from the era.
Right off the bat, the tone is familiar enough to Locke & Key to slide back into Hill’s voice, while still different enough to really catch the reader’s attention, and set itself apart as a new unique horror mystery. It features Hill’s trademark brand of adult humor right from the start, and, mixed with his gritty tone, sets up a realistic cast of characters that leaves the readers wanting to know more. Even though this issue does more to set up the characters than the plot itself, Plunge is already off to an entertaining and intriguing beginning.
Plunge #1 is available now from your local comic book shop.
More: Netflix: 10 Series To Watch If You Liked Locke & Key
Source: SYFY Wire
