Things that go bump in the night elevated to new heights
All Eight Eyes began in early 2021 as a two-page spread in issue #3 of James Tynion IV and Steve Foxe’s extremely hard to obtain creation – Razorblades – a horror anthology of epic proportions. Two issues later in #5, “Diamond Eyes”, as Steve Foxe originally titled this short, became a full 12-page short story. This short story introduced us to a yet unnamed main character Reynolds, his dog Possum (Editor’s note: more on Possum later), and their adventures seeking out monsters that have been killing homeless people in “Alphabet City”. While Reynolds certainly feels like he came out the victor at the end of the story thanks to a well-timed dump truck, readers were left with looming words on the final panel stating, “The End…?”.
Flash forward to 2023 and we see the highly anticipated continuation of “Diamond Eyes”, in the form of All Eight Eyes, published by Dark Horse Comics. Foxe kept the band together and Piotr Kowalski (A/CA), Brad Simpson (C), and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou (L) all returned to the story with James Stokoe providing a gorgeous Cover B!
Code: FEB230360
Code: FEB230361
B-movie creature feature trappings with a fun modern twist
Issue #1 begins in 2003, 6 years after we left Reynolds fighting off an eight legged freak. Down on his luck college dropout, Vinny, wanders the city and he eventually comes across Reynolds viciously beating what appears to be a homeless person in the bushes. Hassan, always at the top of his game, letters panels so that you can actually hear the lighter being struck. You can see all of the blood spraying from the “THWACK” of Reynolds’ hammer. Piotr’s art and Brad’s colors show an energy in each frame, even when there is no movement.
Drifter Reynolds takes Vinny back to his place of residence (if you can call it that) and clues our new protagonist into the realization that once you’ve experienced these arachnid horrors…there’s no going back. The writing and art in this scene skillfully conveys the tension and anger that Vinny must be feeling and makes me question the sanity of Reynolds as he wields a hammer at Vin during this highly emotional, well written sequence.
Exclusive sneak peak at issue #2…
Issue #2 continues to add to the world by introducing Ernie and Dominguez, part of the N.Y.C. Parks and Recreation department, who have an encounter of their own with these mysterious monsters of nature. Hassan has a beautifully disgusting way of bringing an additional element of horror into a normally mundane introduction scene by giving us the “SPLORCH” of a spider carcass being dropped on to Ernie and Dominguez’ superior’s desk.
All Eight Eyes reads like watching old classic monster flicks such as Arachnophobia, Gremlins, Critters, etc. Plenty of body horror, plenty of blood, and plenty of gross out moments! I highly recommend this series to anyone who loves being entertained by oversized monsters terrorizing humans!
Issue #1 FOC: Monday, March 27th. In stores: April 19th. TPB collection of the 4-issue series due out November 2023.
All Eight Eyes #1 Cover A
(Diamond ordering Code: FEB230360)
All Eight Eyes #1 Cover B
(Diamond ordering Code: FEB230361)
All Eight Eyes #2 Cover A
(Diamond ordering Code: MAR230320)
All Eight Eyes #2 Cover B
(Diamond ordering Code: MAR230321)
Still not convinced? Be sure to check out The House of Nerd Show Episode 102 as Sergio & Tara shared their thoughts on what they said was a “great set up, great debut issue”.
