Zyklon b #1

I first heard about zyklon b on twitter to be honest when writer/creator Adam Cheal followed me, and sent me the link for his indiegogo project which I never really seen any of these before, so I had a look at the stuff online and I was very interested especially when Adam said he was from England too, I like putting uk creators into the industry for everyone else to see, especially when people think primarily that comics is an American thing to do, I know some of the greatest writers out there are British but most live out in America, or work on huge American publisher labels, and i like to think i have at least played a small part in helping getting this brand out to the world.when I started putting out art work, articles etc. about this comic and the work it was doing, it was very well received.Then I read an article about the controversy surrounding it, and to be honest didnt pay much attention in history at school but, this article pointed out something to me, that I had to look into that was quite surprising, Zyklon b was used as a weapon of mass killings during the holocaust, which obviously would cause upset for some people, but it seemed to just make more people want to get their hands on this comic, and Adam was kind enough to send it to me, so here is my review, I just hope I can add to the hype and make everyone want it as much as I did.

Zyklon b begins with an opening page at Raining hills asylum for the criminally insane, June 15th 1998, and we are following dr. Susan Parsons as she goes up the drive way to her meeting with the lead character Simon Fisher who is incarcerated in the asylum, and is known as “patient X” or as the newspapers branded him “The Gas Killer”, and they begin to converse about how Simon became the gas that the prison used to try and kill him on death row.

Which take us back in time to when Simon was imprisoned at San Quentin prison and taken to death row, and this is the origin story of how Simon Fisher became the character we will come to know as Visher.

This brings the introduction of another character called Caleb Fontana, who is Simons cell mate, they become acquainted and later when Simon comes into some trouble from other inmates, Caleb comes to his rescue in a hulking maniac fashion

Caleb reveals his beliefs and practises in religious dark arts to Simon and teaches him to use them to look out for himself while in prison, and again results in some pretty gruesome circumstances for the other inmates of the prison

The resulting backlash from this lands Simon in trouble again with a judge and he gets sentenced to death, and moved to death row, and eventually ends up in the gas chamber for his crimes, but little does he know that someone is looking out for him, and due to the dark forces at work Simon becomes the gas used to try and execute him, and he uses this to escape the prison after the gas clears, and goes off into the world searching for all manner of things a man wants after getting out of prison, a good meal, decent drink, but due to his new form he could not satisfy these needs, not even his sexual needs could be satisfied, though not without trying.
Visher then goes on into the world with a new found rage that he can’t contain and goes to take revenge on the people that have wronged him, the person that put him in prison, the judge, and the warden of the prison, in ways that cause as much pain as possible to the people that caused him so much pain

After his revenge, Visher feels guilty and decides to turn himself in to the police, which is how he ended up in the asylum where this issue begins, and the in the room where Simons story leaves the doctor in tears, which leads to a revelation in the story, and opens up the issue to the endless possibilities that could happen in the following chapters of this story

This book absolutely pulls no punches when it comes to horror, gore and blood, it really shows the passion that Adam Cheal has for horror and the comic book industry, which really makes you want to read more and more from this man, it really is brilliant writing and it will not only appeal to horror fans, but also somewhere in there if you look is a bit of an antihero story, which just adds to the feelings that you get from reading about this character and his story throughout the book, the art is by Joel j. Cotejar and really makes this book stand out, and fits the writing perfectly and is very well put together, colours are by Mike Summers and just add to the awesome artwork and the dark tone the book has. And the letter are by Mindy Lopkin, and cover A is by Chris Hagan and cover B is by Soussherpa
Honestly this is the first book that is horror based that has really grabbed me, and I’m so grateful to Adam for involving me in the process putting this book out to the world and I only hope my words can bring you more interest sir, as I feel this creation should really take off, and I know the hard work that is going into this series and you really deserve this to be huge.
If you would like more info on this book or would like to know how and when you can buy it, then please visit the zyklon b website and follow Zyklon b on twitter and it’s creator Adam Cheal and please tell him who sent you.

As ever please leave your comments and let me know what you think here and on my twitter page

Jason