Dark Ride is a delightful horror story with a unique approach utilizing a horror amusement park. Written by Joshua Williamson and drawn by Andrei Bressan, the series kicks off its second story arc this week with Dark Ride #5. Will we learn more about the park, how the siblings will cope with evil influences, and will their father’s dark past come for them all?
Dark Ride #5 opens in the late 1980s. Cast in black and white like in an old movie, we learn a bit about the mother of the twin main characters. From the very start, we can see their father has a darkness about him, and it’s good to see a bit more of him since he’s been mostly cast in the shadows so far. Pay close attention to this scene, as it pays off later in the issue.
Meanwhile, Sam is trying to take care of his daughter and keep the park afloat. They’ve had a recent boom thanks to the death of a worker on the park grounds, but the business hadn’t been doing so hot up until this point. Cut to Sam helping the woman who wants to find out what happened to her brother, and is probably the biggest threat to the park!
As the story progresses, the creators are making it clear Sam is better at heart than his sister Halloween. One can see they may be going on different paths, especially if the park is influencing them.
I don’t think I’d trust that guy.
Credit: Image
Bressan continues to dazzle with cool page layout design and epic shots of park locations. This issue gives us a cool zigzagging staircase, and a new location not even Sam knew about. The fear factor is strong with this issue too. It’s not necessarily a horror comic seeking scares, but when it needs to creep you out it gets the job done. You get that effect with some devil dancers, who look perfectly innocent at first, but Halloween sees something truly horrific at one point. It’s a nice touch to remind us Halloween is losing it.
As a first issue of a story arc, this issue does a lot to get the characters in the right headspace and locations for the remainder of the arc. That requires a bit of sussing things out, and less action and big shocks like in previous issues. The flashback opening doesn’t add too much that we couldn’t have already guessed. As it’s set up things, it seems like the narrative can go only one way, with little steering things off course. Even the cliffhanger seems to be leaning towards uncovering the terrible acts of the father, which will likely lead to doom for the park and its characters.
Dark Ride #5 sets out on its second story arc with continued hints that something truly awful has happened with the father. While we already knew this and the story only reinforces it, this issue offers interesting secrets of the park with great visuals to go with it.
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