You’ve read the first issue and the interviews, and now it’s time to dig into Exquisite Corpses #2! The ambitious new action horror series from the minds of two of comics’ best horror creators, James Tynion IV and Michael Walsh, continues as a most dangerous game plays out in a small Maine town. There are 12 killers set loose, and with one dead, another will follow in a nail-biter of an issue.
Joining in on the fun in the second issue is artist Marianna Ignazzi, who draws the main story with Walsh taking up the behind-the-scenes stuff. The story opens behind the scenes, where the super-rich watch their killers slay and get slain. It’s in these behind-the-scenes moments that we realize there are machinations at work. While some of the rich are taking a load off and making bets, others are hoping their killer wins so they can rule, while others only hope for others to lose. These scenes are a bit of calm and mystery while also reminding us that the rich are depraved and uncaring.
Taking the primary focus in the killing arena is The Congregation. He’s a slasher who wears human skin as clothes. Lovely. We meet him as he enters a gas station grocery, but he is soon distracted by a patron before he can kill the cashier. This scene highlights how deaths can be slow and almost quiet, as the cashier curls up in a ball and hopes for the best. It’s a bit surprising that this “action horror” doesn’t lean into the scene more, or have slashers clash, but I’m sure that’s coming.
Killers do love their games.
Credit: Image
Other elements featured are ambulance drivers who come onto the scene of last issue’s murder, and the couple trying ot make it to a Halloween party. The latter story shows they’ve split up, with both likely coming back together after a wild night of near-death experiences. Another scene sets up another killer to enter he fray, and overall, each subplot advances just enough to keep you coming back for more.
Ignazzi’s art features a thin light with detail where it counts, particularly in facial expressions and clothing. There’s a realism to his art that suits the slasher cutting at a man’s neck, or a bizarre calmness to a woman who enters a car dealership late at night.
The second issue of Exquisite Corpses ratchets up the tension with visceral horror, unsettling class commentary, and just enough plot development to leave you hungry for more. With Marianna Ignazzi’s expressive art and Tynion and Walsh’s layered storytelling, this series continues to prove it’s more than just slasher thrills; it’s a twisted game you can’t stop watching.
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