Dark Ride is heating up, and the mascots that lurk in the horror amusement park are very real. They revealed themselves to the park creator’s son Sam last issue, and now dead fans of the park are showing up. Given how dangerous the park and these mascots are, will Sam and Summer survive, or will the park’s secrets further reveal their truths?
Dark Ride #4 opens where we left off as Sam tells a mascot to stop kneeling and bugger off. Enter many more of the scary creatures who Sam thought were actors, but the reader knows they’re awful nightmare creatures. Things are starting to dawn on Sam in this issue, but as the cover suggests, it might be too late for him. His sister Halloween, who graces the cover, factors into a major twist cliffhanger and sets up the next issue for a major power shift.
Broken down into major scenes, this issue features three big turning points. That amps up the overall enjoyment of the issue. Not only does Summer get a kind of resolution regarding her brother–who died in the park in the first issue–but we learn something new about the mascots. A YouTuber the series has been following finally gets a scoop, but in the rather disturbing turn, he may be changed forever. This latter scene is right up there with great torture-porn horror without the gratuitous gore.
We also get a quick check-in with Sam and his daughter, reminding us of her accident. It’s hard to discuss these scenes in detail without spoiling, but know this issue is a major turning point that should make the next few issues quite exciting.
The park is literally alive.
Credit: Image
Further making this series exciting is the art by Andrei Bressan. The various mascots surrounding Sam are each unique, detailed, and inspired. Your imagination will run wild as you try to figure out what part of the park they’re from or even what they are. It’s a creative explosion. There’s also a great scene with Sam and Summer going on a park ride with all sorts of horrors at every turn. Bressan’s style is also ever so slightly cartoony, which makes the gnashing teeth, gore, or other disturbing imagery in this issue disturbing in a different way. It’s a bit more shocking.
One downside might be Summer’s plot in this issue, however. That’s because she has played such a heavy part, only to have her story seemingly end off the panel. It’s too early to say since we don’t know how the series will play out, but she seems to exit the narrative without any explanation.
Dark Ride #4 is a great issue and a good turning point in the series. Power is switching hands, revelations are made, and the horrors are gorgeous every step of the way.
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