Bringing you up to Speed
It’s been a moment since I interviewed The Vineyard series writer Brian Hawkins. Four years, in fact. At the time Brian was supporting the editing team over at Miami based Mad Cave Studios as an Assistant Editor. A role bolstered from his many writing jobs that were gradually pointing him in the direction of pull time comics pro.
Since those days of 2019 (oof! boy does time fly), I’ve watched from a far as Brian has carved out this neat little corner of original comics stories. From publishing his own neo-noir in Black Cotton through Scout Comics to taking a swing at Zenescope’s Van Helsing through to the supernaturally sinister in Devil’s Dominion. He’s proof that there are many well crafted stories still left in his cap.
The Vineyard is just another great example of this.
Bolstered by the artistic revelry of Sami Kivela, the coloring of palette professional Jason Wordie and letterer Taylor Esposito, The Vineyard is a melding of dark urban legend, Americana and occult driven supernatural. A horror story that Is delectable and creepy in equal measures. Sitting somewhere in the pleasure centres of the brain for fans of Netflix films like 1922 and Apostle.
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The Vineyard Issue #3 Review
Like Apostle, there is a hidden darkness that seeps out of each panel like a cancer, infects your finger tips like a bad dose of LSD and runs up your veins like a virus and makes you shudder with each decision the protagonists make. The Vineyard is a slave to the kind of evil that is as old as the earth itself. An evil that manipulates the very decisions of key character, Adonis, as he goes about doing what he can to look after the family business but to also ensure his god is appeased.
So what if that means sacrificing innocent young women in the process? An aspect that is all part of the family business, which his mother understands, but not fully. Because, as we delve deeper into the issue, we learn that Adonis and his Father are the only ones who truly hold the faith of worshipping the dark oak that lies on their property. A dark oak from which spirits of the occult emerge from. Spirits that only the males of their family can see.
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An aspect of Adonis’ family that his sister seeks to escape with the help of her boyfriend, Calum. This sordid tale of the occult elevates to new heights when Calum witnesses Adonis kill his lover in front of the dark oak on The Vineyard. Raising more questions than answers at the sheer horror of what he’s witnessed.
Horror that wouldn’t be possible without the combined talents of Sami Kivela and Jason Wordie delivering a neo-noir horror tale of that drives at the heart of American folklore. In fact, the art and coloring screams out in pain as the terror of the Vineyard claims it’s next victim. It doesn’t stop there, though, as you progress through the issue you’ll begin to note that nature is gradually taking over the vineyard itself.
Giving the commentary that the evil on the vineyard is the humans involved in this story – just as much as it is the occult-like creatures emerging from the dark oak and seducing the men of Adonis’ family. Like fairies intent on absorbing the blood the young sacrificed women have to offer.
This all seems like a massive distraction on Brian Hawkins part. Despite the chaos ensuing between the human characters we seem to have been distracted from the why. Why the sacrifice? What is the spirit of the dark oak giving back to their land? Is it the secret taste that goes back into the wine that they’re selling to every wino that visits their quaint little vineyard? How does that come to play? More questions with hopeful answers in the next issue of The Vineyard. Like the spirit of the island in Apostle – there’s always an exchange. The revelations of this unhealthy relationship look to be dire.
The Vineyard Issue #3 is available now through Aftershock Comics.
Score: Five out of Six Sodas
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