From writer Zac Thompson (Into the Unbeing, Ka-Zar) and artist Gavin Mitchell comes Hellraiser: The Onanistic Ritual #1 – a one-shot that bring the Cenobites into the social-media age in stellar, gruesome fashion. Featuring colors by Francesco Segala and lettering from Ed Dukeshire, this Hellraiser story tackles the rae, reckless, and entitled desire of misled young men and ends the only way it possibly could in Barker’s world of pleasure and punishment. With a poignant, darkly hilarious script and brilliantly grim visual work, this issue is an absolute treat for Hellraiser fans and readers of politically-charged horror in general.
“The Chatterer bares his teeth for a brand new mission. His goal? To reclaim his rightful place as the right hand of the Hell Priest himself!
Meet Mark, the young man obsessed with looksmaxxing, a toxic practice to become the ultimate alpha male in today’s world. When he watches a vintage snuff film seemingly showing The Chatterer’s violent creation, Mark becomes obsessed with summoning The Chatterer as an avenging demon against those he feels wronged him. But we all know the thing about deals with the devil…”
Writing & Plot
Zac Thompson takes the opportunity to have Cenobites tackles the absurdity of men on the internet in the pages of Hellraiser Resurrections: The Onanistic Ritual #1. Following the events of the original Hellraiser films, The Chatterer seeks to be remade and to serve at the side of the Hellpriest once more. Meanwhile on Earth, a hopelessly misguided, terminally online, porn-addicted young man named Mark gets ahold of the Lament Configuration (AKA the Puzzlebox) and obsesses over the notion of summoning a Cenobite to get vengeance on those who have supposedly wronged him. In this case, it’s women just, you know, existing. This goes just as well as you can imagine. Thompson doesn’t shy away from the depraved absurdity of online “alpha male” culture, and shines a light not only on its stupidity, but on how well that level of tortured desire and hatred fits into Barker’s universe of torment. This is an effective modernization of Hellraiser, and it doesn’t make the mistake of being *too* online. It’s easy for a story like this to become immediately dated when it tackles a specific internet or social media issue, but Thompson manages to sidestep that by making it more about entitled masculinity and depravity on the whole, just in one of its more modern guises. The dual narratives – the Chatterer’s resurrection and Mark’s descent into madness – increase in intensity and stakes at the same rate, culminating in a brilliant and brutal finale that is satisfying and extremely Hellraiser. The Onanistic Ritual is possibly the sharpest piece of writing in this franchise since Clive Barker’s original novel.
Art Direction
Gavin Mitchell’s visuals in Hellraiser Resurrections: The Onanistic Ritual #1 pull readers into this steady descent into hyper-deviant hell in grand fashion. Most of this comic takes place in Mark’s bedroom, where his hatred and increasing lust are painted across his face more and more each time we see him. Mitchell does some incredible work with character animation and detail in this comic. The intensity of his um, “actions” draws us further into this story’s vortex of psychotic turmoil, to the point that the scenes in the Labyrinth with the Cenobites almost pale in comparison. Mitchell’s sequential direction furthers this sense of chaos, with smaller detailed shots putting the supposed sources of his inadequacies in focus and splicing scenes together with what’s happening in the Labyrinth. The larger, wide panels show Mark’s um, “rituals” in increasingly depraved fashion, all building expertly to the story’s climax (heh). The color art by Francesco Segala is the perfect tonal polish for The Onanistic Ritual. Most of the comic is coated in some form of darkness, and the most notable is the computer-lit and crimson-hued bedroom of our main protagonist. Segala’s colors ushers in a growing sense of dread as the story progresses, ending in a flood of fire and blood. Overall, The Onanistic Ritual is gifted with a stellar and brutal visual experience.
Verdict
Hellraiser Resurrections: The Onanistic Ritual is a phenomenal chapter in the Hellraiser saga. Zac Thompson’s script is an incisive commentary on a very real problem concerning men’s view of themselves, while also making the subject a perfect vessel for a great Cenobite tale. The visuals from Gavin Mitchell and Francesco Segala are brilliantly animated and brutal, giving this comic an excellent overall atmosphere. Be sure to grab this new one-shot, available now!
