Possessive: Part 1
In Zenescope’s Possessive, Todd has a problem. Ok, a number of problems. Most stem from his drinking problem. Unfortunately, that problem had spilled over into his marriage, his family and his art. Eventually, it became too much for his wife Jess and she filed for a divorce. She just couldn’t have Todd and his problems around her and the children. To try to resolve his issues and prove to Jess he isn’t hopeless, he bought a home in the neighborhood. One that could be their dream home. If she could see clear to take him back. (Somehow, I hear Alan Jackson’s “Someday” in the background). He will fix up this house and himself. He promised. Of course, he might have been more convincing had he not smelled of liquor when he broke the news.
Meet the Lady of the House
So Todd resolved to fix the house. Too bad his repair skills added to his inebriation didn’t measure up to the task. Time to call in some professionals. Or at least, ones that HE could afford. Those negative reviews on Yelp could have been misleading he pondered as he made the call. So, in another of a string of bad decisions, he left them while he tried to find a place to sell his paintings. Quick tip. When you bring in repair people with a shaky reputation, don’t be surprised if they have other ideas rather than fixing your home. In this case, searching the place for anything of value to steal. Good luck with that. Todd was down on his luck in more ways than one. The only place they hadn’t looked was the attic. Bad decision. Come to find out, the house had one other guest besides Todd. And she didn’t like trespassers…or thieves. They found that out the hard way.
When Todd returned, he found the repairmen’s vehicles still there, but none of them were to be found. Well that’s not going to look good on their next Yelp review. So Todd decided to settle himself into some painting as well as some more drinking. Neither one to positive effect, as he passed out from alcohol without putting brush to canvas. in fact, the only thing that hit the canvas was his face as he crashed into it. As Todd laid on the floor, the last of the missing Repairmen tried to escape from the attic, trying to arouse the slumbering Todd. But before he could make good his escape, the spectre from upstairs caught up to him and finished her work in a most bloody fashion. Dragging him away by the leg.
Fingers Optional
In time, Todd arose from his alcohol nap. He looked at the canvas on the floor, covered in spilled paint. He wasn’t sure what he was trying to accomplish with that mess. As he looked around, he noticed the ceiling with the door to the attic. Could his repairmen be up there? Before he could look, a knock at his door pulled him away. It was Jess with their divorce papers. This day kept getting better. He tossed the envelope with the papers aside and returned to the attic. As he pulled the stairs down, his ethereal house guest crawled down the stairs… spiderlike. Todd did what any sane person would do when faced with such a sight. Even a drunk one. He ran like hell out the front door. But he knew in his condition, he wouldn’t be able to avoid her for long. So he stopped and waited for his end. But it didn’t come. Apparently, she could not leave the property. Well that was just fine. Because that house was all he had too and he wasn’t going to leave either. He was going to fix the house and make something of his life and his art. He said this as he walked back to the house, showing the gruesome female apparition that he thought she was number one…with his middle finger. At least until she bit it off.
No Where to Go
So let’s take score. Todd is losing his wife and family. His art is going nowhere. He’s a fall down drunk most of the time and his house has a violent specter that kills people and bit his finger off Perhaps he should consider himself fortunate). He also found out that the realtor who sold him the house knew about the ghost and didn’t tell him. In fact, EVERYONE in town knew about it…but him. So that pretty much removes the chance of dumping the house on anyone else. Life has lost all meaning. The best way to handle things would be to end it all. Except he can’t do it. He purchased a gun. He planned to do it. But he couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger…so to speak. To make matters worse, he couldn’t even get his upstairs neighbor to do the job for him. He tried to entice her to, but she left him alone. Yep…he was screwed.
Thoughts
Possessive is a enticing mix of horror, the supernatural, and humor, mixed into a slick and well done package. Writers Hans Rodionoff and Adam F. Goldberg create a scenario where a down on his luck artist has done about everything wrong he could. Our hero Todd, if you can call him that, has a drinking problem that has alienated his wife and made her file for a divorce. She has limited his visitation with their children. His paintings have not sold and these days, he has hardly touched brush to canvas. With all that going wrong, the last thing he needed was to buy a house with a ghost problem. And not just the ghostly apparitions that just fly through walls and scare you. This one has a violent streak and kills without hesitation and in the bloodiest of fashions. Talk about piling on. However, Rodionoff and Goldberg balance out all the mayhem with Todd’s view of the proceedings and his belief that this is just more of God punishing him for his shortcomings. But, just to prove God has a sense of humor, he won’t let Todd get off that easy. No suicide. No getting the ghost to solve your problems for you. Figure out another way of managing your situation. It will be fascinating to see where we go from here.
Artwork
The trick to this narrative is to make Todd, be the loser he is, but be sympathetic to an audience. While at the same time, giving the antagonist of the story sufficient gravitas and appearance for the reader to understand the danger inherent. In this endeavor, artist Eduardo Garcia is more than equal to the task. Whether drawing our erstwhile specter spidering down walls or biting people’s heads off…literally, Garcia captures all of it with just the right combination of horror and at times, dare we say…whimsy. It makes for the perfect combination and an engaging mini-series. Zenescope’s Possessive Part 1 of 3 can be found where great comics are sold.
Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 50 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove head first over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 18 year old boy with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
