Vietnam Horror #3

Vietnam Horror #3

Behemoth Entertainment 2021

Written by Massimo Rosi

Illustrated by Vito Coppola

After the American Soldiers encampment turns into absolute chaos and anarchy due to an unknown epidemic, a militia arrives to provide support and attempt to aid any potential survivors. But the horrors within the camp might provide to be too strong for anyone to outlast.

I love Massimo, the man can flat out write like no one alive should ge able to do. The pure unadulterated horror of what we see whether it is psychological or actual is something that is the stuff of nightmares and it doesn’t let up for a single moment from the opening to the final page. The opening is phenomenal and to see this soldier treating himself after being bit by what we can only assume is a venomous snake sets the stage for what we’ll see throughout the entire issue. From that moment to the one in the medical tent the way that we see this delicious hauntingly horrific display builds tension like you wouldn’t believe and while it has shades of Alien to it it still remains in a class all its own.

I absolutely love the way that this is is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is perfectly presented to leave its mark upon the reader. The character development here is extraordinary thanks to the dialogue, the character interaction and how we see them act and react to the situations and circumstances which they encounter. I’m telling you something right here and now what they encounter is the kind of thing that will forever stay with anyone who witnesses it. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists & turns along the way it is like watching a train wreck in the middle of the street that you have slow down to see and cannot bear to tear yours eyes away from.

How we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to emerge, grow and evolve only serve to heighten the senses and create this whole idea of mass hypnosis in the reader as you wonder how it is something like this could actually happen. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is achieved to near perfection.

The interiors here are beyond mindbogglingly brilliant. The black & white medium with the linework, its varying weights and techniques being utilised to create this level and quality of attention to detail is astonishingly good. It leaves very little to the imagination other than how something like what we see can emerge from a mere mortal human. When we see backgrounds being utilised, of which I desperately wish there more of, they do wonders in expanding the moments while also bringing us depth perception, a sense of scale and that overall sense of size and scope to the story. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show a remarkably talented eye for storytelling.

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I’m not sure how Massimo is able to conceive of the concept here and then deliver through the execution to create this kind of story without giving himself nightmares but its something that keeps me awake deep into the wee hours. That we can be so fully immersed into a place and time that is far removed from our own and add into that the supernatural element that makes this even weirder and harder to swallow is pure unadulterated genius at work. With such an intelligently written story with one helluva creepy followed by another brought to life with such aplomb by an extremely talented artist this is the best book you aren’t reading right now, unless you are then you already know.