Heather Hutchens continues her stay in Babylon Cove, even as the demonic Corrodere Karthoni lurks in the background in Babylon Cove #2, written by Rafer Roberts with art by Joe Eisma and colors by Marissa Louise. The miniseries combines the romantic drama of a Hallmark movie with Lovecraftian horror and so far, it mostly works.
Unlike Hallmark films, where you generally root for couples to get together, Heather’s character is so downright unlikeable that you don’t wish anyone to get entangled with her. I’ve watched quite a few Hallmark films (my wife loves them so by default, I’m a regular viewer of them too) and I don’t remember any characters in those films being as reprehensible as Heather. But maybe her bad quirks are being amped up in order to escalate the story’s drama?
Having grown up in Babylon Cove, Heather has a history with the small town and reunites with a couple men she was close with in high school, including Charlie Kalua, who pined for her back then but she forever relegated to the dreaded “friend zone”. Charlie seems to be the only generally decent person living in the town and watching Heather manipulate him, taking advantage of his feelings for her, is infuriating. Everyone knows a Charlie (hell, I’ve been one at one point in my life), so he’s a very relatable and sympathetic character and you worry for him in the midst of all the darkness enveloping Babylon Cove.
Also, Heather runs into Dennis Dorsey, the “star jock” in high school who she dated until Dennis cheated on her with her best friend. Dennis is the mayor of the town now, and despite the fact most of the town hates Heather, he wants to rekindle that relationship with her and make up for the past. Writer Rafer Roberts does a good job of keeping the story from going too far into cheesy romantic territory and possibly gives Heather a path to redemption when she realizes that the town may be cursed and it could be her fault.
What better way to shake up a story than to toss in some good old-fashioned Lovecraftian horror? Where the first issue went relatively easy on the horror and gore, this issue throttles it up, as we get more information on Heather’s archaeologist father and the artifacts she grew up with, including an incredibly creepy statue she played with as a child, that could now be responsible for all the town’s misery and deaths.
More of Karthoni’s sinister plans are also revealed and his scenes are the most chilling, taking the “Dark Shadows” feel of the book in more terrifying directions.
Despite my distaste for Heather, I look forward to seeing her battle Lovecraftian horrors as the remainder of the series plays out.
