Review: Battle Lines Are Drawn In ‘Sea Of Sorrows’ #3
by Brendan M. Allen
‘Battle lines are drawn aboard the SS Vagabond, as the disappearances of more crew members drive the paranoid survivors against each other. The gold they came to salvage is mere fathoms beneath their feet, but is any fortune worth the price of their lives?’
The crew of the SS Vagabond is down two men, one missing, another in the throes of a violent psychotic break. Meanwhile, the gold is on the bottom of the ocean in the hold of the Bremen, and if anyone expects to get paid, someone still needs to go down to retrieve it. Desperation and greed are powerful motivators.
This has been kind of a disappointing week on the horror front, and Sea of Sorrows is thankfully here to break up that pattern. I love the way Richard Douek is tightening the screws, layering on the tension as alliances break down and crew members’ sanity is tested.
Alex Cormack’s art is dark and gritty and slightly disturbed. It’s a perfect fit for this story. The scenes topside are claustrophobic and tense, but this thing is absolutely terrifying when Cormack takes us below the surface.
One of my huge pet peeves in horror is showing the monster too soon, in too bright light, with too many explanations. Sea of Sorrows falls into none of these traps, and I love it for that. We’re three quarters of the way into this sucker, and we’ve only just caught glimpses of the beast.
This is, hands down, the best horror series I’m pulling at the moment, and I can’t wait to see how it blows off next month.
Sea of Sorrows, IDW Publishing, 03 February 2021. Written by Richard Douek, art/color by Alex Cormack, letters by Justin Birch.
Summary
This has been kind of a disappointing week on the horror front, and Sea of Sorrows is thankfully here to break up that pattern. I love the way Richard Douek is tightening the screws, layering on the tension as alliances break down and crew members’ sanity is tested.
