Oct 14

The Writer #2 evokes a sense of Mid-Late Era Vertigo Comics

About The Writer #2

Writers: Ben Berkowitz, Max Berkowitz, Josh Gad

Artist: Ariel Olivetti

Colorist: Ariel Olivetti

Letterer: Frank Cvetkovic

Publisher: Dark Horse

Cover Art: Matt Smith

Publication Date: July 24th, 2024

Logline:

In a dark turn, comic book writer Stan Siegel's life dives into a neo-Nazi occult nightmare. Orchestrated by legendary Josh Gad and the Berkowitz Brothers, "The Writer" plunges Stan into a whirl of folklore and magic. Amid demonic chaos and high-speed chases, Stan's hunger for answers unveils hidden identities, setting off a desperate race against time in this thrilling saga. To combat the rising tide of terror, Stan must become the hero from his pages.

The Writer #2 Review:

The combined talents of The Berkowitz Bros and Josh Gad continue to weave a web of spellbinding mysticism and intrigue as this mini-series explores deeper into the heart of Jewish folklore.

As it does, main character (and comic book writer) Stan Siegel’s family turns out to be more trouble than they’re worth when the masked villain at the height of issue 1’s cliffhanger turns out to be his long lost father and leader of a cabal intent on safeguarding a ring of Solomon which, in the wrong hands, could bring about the destruction of the world.

When Nazi demons, their human Nazi servants and an seemingly immortal Jewish witch infiltrate the cabal, this causes Stan, his daughter and his quick-to-violence mother to head for the underworld - because the spirit of King Solomon will be able to solve all their problems (they hope). With all this supernatural horror unfolding as the story evolves, artist Ariel Olivetti’s coloring evokes a sense of mid-late Vertigo era comics. Where the bizarre often had a head-on collision with terror in every issue of the famed DC Comics imprint.

The demonic forces are completely believable and feel conjured up from the very depths of human fear. Still, there’s time for respite in brief scenes for Stan and his cohort to come face-to-face with the horrors that are unfolding in front of them. These realisations come crashing down and you can feel it in the way each of the three main characters respond to the world going from horrific and cruel one moment to bizarre and unbelievable the next.

I mentioned in my review of issue 1 there’s a similarity in this series to that of Peter Gross and Mike Carey’s The Unwritten and John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness. Well, throw the gradual exploration of a bold new fantasy world like Pan’s Labyrinth in with the rest, blended together, discard the unwanted chunks and you’ve got The Writer #2.

And that’s why this comic book is My Kind Of Weird.