Hyde Street has introduced some unique characters during its run so far. There’s Mr. X-Ray, the mysterious narrator who’s aiming to escape Hyde Street’s pull; Pranky, the demonic Boy Scout who delights in tormenting the wicked; and Ms. Goodbody, the weight-loss guru whose terrifying treatments took center stage in the Devour one-shot. Hyde Street #4 introduces what might be its most tragic figure yet with the “Matinee Monster”.
The “Matinee Monster” was once Oscar Oddman, a man who dreamed of becoming a great actor during Hollywood’s Golden Age. But due to his towering stature, he was often typecast in monster movies, with the latest being Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein’s Brother (yes, really.) A horrific twist of Fate leads him to Hyde Street, but it turns out that despite his horrific visage Oscar still retains his soul.
Series creators Geoff Johns and Ivan Reis deliver a truly tragic tale here. Unlike Mr. X-Ray, who preyed on the innocent in his past life, or Pranky taking out the trauma of his abusive childhood on others, Oscar just wanted to show he could be ‘one of the greats’. But even in its “Golden Age”, Hollywood was a place that tried to shape and mold its stars in a certain image. Like Lon Chaney or Bela Lugosi before him, Oscar’s height led him to be boxed into the role of “the monster”, and even when that role is supposedly threatened he doesn’t take it well.
Even Reis’s depiction of the Mantinee Monster is tragic: he’s a huge, hulking, hooded creature with sickly green skin and scars running across his face. What’s even more horrifying is that his hood is literally nailed to his face, including his eyes, and his grunts are due to not having a tongue. How the Monster got this way is showcased in a bloody, brutal sequence where Oscar encounters Hyde Street’s master, the Scorekeeper. The Scorekeeper’s black and white realm soon becomes filled with bright red blood, which matches this mystery man’s letters. Danny Miki and Brad Anderson have excelled at utilizing a blend of shadows and light to sell Hyde Street‘s horrors and this issue is no different.
I also give Johns some credit for delving deeper into the world of Hyde Street, showcasing how dangerous the Scorekeeper really is and revealing just how out of place Oscar is among Hyde Street’s residents. He also introduces a new mystery, as Oscar has someone locked in his castle, who is only referred to as “The Butcher of Hyde Street” (and with a name like that, you know his story is going to be macabre).
Hyde Street #4 features what might be the series’ most tragic installment to date, peeling back another layer of its mysterious realm while showcasing that not everyone on Hyde Street is a monster – even if they look like one. The fact that this will be released post-Oscars is fitting, as it’s a reminder that not everything that glitters in Hollywood is gold.
