Author: Joe Hill
Genre: Horror
Format: Paperback
Pages: 184
This, this, is what I wanted from this series of comics! I wished I would have started here because so far I've enjoyed everything that Joe Hill has written. Basket Full of Heads was a great way to kick off this series, and a wild ride.
Basket Full of Heads had my attention right from the start. One of my favorite horror tropes is the trapped on an island with no way off. No phones, no cellphones, nothing. It's a trope that is harder to do these days with just how reliable cellphones are. Add to that trope a mystical ax and a badass Final Girl and you can have money.
Bonus points when the plot delivers. Which Basket Full of Heads did in my opinion.
Joe Hill solves the cellphone issue by setting this story in the 1980s. Plus who doesn't love a scary story set in the peak Final Girl era? But, putting the story back this fair helps isolate our main character more, add on the fact she's never been to this island before, and a storm rages through. Perfect combination.
Add on the fact that I like June. I wasn't sold on her in the beginning, and I was worried she was going to be the main character that just keeps getting lucky. The ones that never have to grow a spine and do something, but everything sort of falls into their favor. June isn't like that. She takes one blow after another and keeps getting up. She just wants to survive. As the story goes she starts to trust herself more and more. Forgive herself for the things she has to do to make sure she sees the other side.
My favorite bit about Basket Full of Heads is the bad guys. They all have a reason for why they did what they did, all afraid of something getting out into the public. All because they were doing a bad thing and were paranoid about getting caught. Only for all of them to be wrong in the end, and all of this was a wild goose chase.
There is also a couple of really good twist toward the end of the book. One I sort was expecting, the other I was not. I also felt the story wrapped nicely. All of the important questions were answered and tied up with a bow, and June got to ride off the island safe and sound. I do have a few questions that didn't get answered, but none that revolve around the main plot of the story itself.
It's one question... Who were those people in the water when June overboard? They were there going after her, but why were they down there? The answers wouldn't affect the main story at all, I was just confused about what was going on with them. Kind of seemed out of place...
We do get the story behind the ax as well at the end because doesn't like a bad guy monologue where that was brought up. I like that June had to carry around the heads as she sorted out what was going on and how both she and her boyfriend were involved. Each head had a role to play in trying to slow down and break June, except for Hank. I would have loved to of killed him twice. Such a baby.
Lastly, I like the artwork that Leomacs created for this story. This is the first Graphic Novel I've read where they've done the artwork, and I thought it fit well with the kind of story Joe Hill was telling. The panels were easy to follow and each character was unique and easy to place at a glance. There were a lot of little details throughout the book, and I'm in love with all the variant covers that came out. Also the title page with the basket of heads. I loved that it changed with each volume after a new kill.
So wish I would have started with this one instead of jumping into the middle with the third book. While each book is a stand-alone, that book didn't grab my attention as this one did. Basket Full of Heads makes you want to keep reading this series just to see if each book holds up to the bar Joe Hill set.
I'm excited to pick up the next book in this series to see if it's just as good.
Basket Full of Heads had my attention right from the start. One of my favorite horror tropes is the trapped on an island with no way off. No phones, no cellphones, nothing. It's a trope that is harder to do these days with just how reliable cellphones are. Add to that trope a mystical ax and a badass Final Girl and you can have money.
Bonus points when the plot delivers. Which Basket Full of Heads did in my opinion.
Joe Hill solves the cellphone issue by setting this story in the 1980s. Plus who doesn't love a scary story set in the peak Final Girl era? But, putting the story back this fair helps isolate our main character more, add on the fact she's never been to this island before, and a storm rages through. Perfect combination.
Add on the fact that I like June. I wasn't sold on her in the beginning, and I was worried she was going to be the main character that just keeps getting lucky. The ones that never have to grow a spine and do something, but everything sort of falls into their favor. June isn't like that. She takes one blow after another and keeps getting up. She just wants to survive. As the story goes she starts to trust herself more and more. Forgive herself for the things she has to do to make sure she sees the other side.
My favorite bit about Basket Full of Heads is the bad guys. They all have a reason for why they did what they did, all afraid of something getting out into the public. All because they were doing a bad thing and were paranoid about getting caught. Only for all of them to be wrong in the end, and all of this was a wild goose chase.
There is also a couple of really good twist toward the end of the book. One I sort was expecting, the other I was not. I also felt the story wrapped nicely. All of the important questions were answered and tied up with a bow, and June got to ride off the island safe and sound. I do have a few questions that didn't get answered, but none that revolve around the main plot of the story itself.
It's one question... Who were those people in the water when June overboard? They were there going after her, but why were they down there? The answers wouldn't affect the main story at all, I was just confused about what was going on with them. Kind of seemed out of place...
We do get the story behind the ax as well at the end because doesn't like a bad guy monologue where that was brought up. I like that June had to carry around the heads as she sorted out what was going on and how both she and her boyfriend were involved. Each head had a role to play in trying to slow down and break June, except for Hank. I would have loved to of killed him twice. Such a baby.
Lastly, I like the artwork that Leomacs created for this story. This is the first Graphic Novel I've read where they've done the artwork, and I thought it fit well with the kind of story Joe Hill was telling. The panels were easy to follow and each character was unique and easy to place at a glance. There were a lot of little details throughout the book, and I'm in love with all the variant covers that came out. Also the title page with the basket of heads. I loved that it changed with each volume after a new kill.
So wish I would have started with this one instead of jumping into the middle with the third book. While each book is a stand-alone, that book didn't grab my attention as this one did. Basket Full of Heads makes you want to keep reading this series just to see if each book holds up to the bar Joe Hill set.
I'm excited to pick up the next book in this series to see if it's just as good.
HAPPY READING!!
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