Just when I thought I knew what to expect from an issue, Hyde Street #12 comes roaring out of the gate and flips everything on its ear. From the first page, tensions are ratcheted up to 11 for every character, who each has something personal on the line. The entire issue feels like that Alfred Hitchcock quote where he explains what the difference between a surprise and suspense is. I’m paraphrasing here, but he says surprise is a bomb going off at a dinner table, and suspense is showing a family eat dinner while cutting to a clock ticking down. This issue is a bomb you’re waiting to explode.
Pranky is convinced of a few things. He’s convinced the Butcher of Hyde Street, the man locked away in Mr. Odman’s dungeon, can hurt the Scorekeeper, free everyone from their imprisonment on Hyde Street, and also reunite Pranky with his mom, who we learned the tragic backstory of last month. Because of those beliefs, he’s willing to fight the Matinee Monster like hell to free the Butcher.
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Mr. X-Ray is convinced his daughter is reaching out to them through the veil that separates Hyde Street from the real world. Sister Hood has divined something from her cards that deepens the mystery between that street just around the corner, both familiar and unknown and Judy, Mr. X-Ray’s Daughter.
Ms. Goodbody is still locked in her store, thanks to Pranky, one soul short of freeing herself from the Scorekeeper’s game. Panicked and alone, she’s too scared to leave her storefront and desperately tries to convince a wayward soul outside to help her.
Pranky and the Matinee Monster are a tick. Mr. X-Ray and Sisterhood are a tick. Ms. Goodbody is a tick.
The Butcher is the boom.
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When the Butcher finally gets freed, all hell breaks loose. He’s more savage and brutal than you could expect and his goal is to hunt down the residents who imprisoned him. With each death, the Scorekeeper gets more and more hurt, seemingly weakening his power over the denizens of Hyde Street.
WIth a single issue, Hyde Street turned from a cool throwback anthology of Twilight Zone inspired horror and morality tales into a full blown bloody nightmare. So much of the issue is the suspense of all these disparate plans in motion and all at once they explode at the dinner table, waking havoc and changing everything you thought was possible in this horrible world of ironic revenge.
I feel like I’ve spent enough time praising the way writer Geoff Johns has set up this story, so now it’s only fair to turn my sights on the art team. Holy smokes, they kill it (pardon the pun). Ivan Reis turns in his most impressive work since Blackest Night, effortlessly juggling multiple storylines at a supreme quality of detail and humanity. Every pained expression is burned into the page, every swipe and jump feels just as savage as it looks. Danny Miki’s inks keep the world feeling weighty and real despite all the insane things happening. Brad Anderson’s colors make every wild character feel like they belong in the same universe, and Robert Leigh’s lettering, especially on sound effects, is dynamic and expressive, making every panel feel more cinematic.
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Hyde Street #12 is an absolute punch to the face, in a good way. The Butcher of Hyde Street arc is in its second issue and the wheels have completely fallen off the cart, with brutal violence, betrayal, fear, paranoia, and a glimpse of the Scorekeeper behind the curtain. Just as things were getting established and a cadence had developed for the denizens of Hyde Street, everything is completely upended in impressively gory fashion.
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