What Is Up With That Chick's Eyes?

Rachel Rising 1-4
Abstract Studio
Terry Moore, writer and artist

The publicized premise of this black-and-white comic is that the title character mysteriously cannot die. The series opens with Rachel discovering that fact along with the readers as she has to dig herself out of a shallow grave. Upon doing so and making her way home from the woods where she was left, Rachel learns that she has been missing for three days. The young woman shows physical signs of having been strangled but doesn't recall that happening or who might have been responsible.

As if that weren't bad enough, some of her friends don't even seem to recognize Rachel. And those who do aren't much help trying to help her remember the circumstances from her missing three days.

But Rachel's problems aren't the only odd occurrences readers of this series are privy to. A mysterious blonde woman stood watching from a hillside as Rachel freed herself from the shallow grave in which she'd been buried. This same woman has just as mysteriously appeared to other residents of the town in which Rachel lives (lived?) and has compelled or goaded them into doing horrible things, sometimes without uttering a single word.

Moore is a wonderful writer, and I have enjoyed his previous series, Strangers in Paradise and Echo. I gave this series a try based on his talent displayed in those previous works. It can sometimes be hard to scare a reader with a book which can simply be put down and walked away from. But Moore has crafted a genuinely intriguing and downright creepy first few issues of this series, and I look forward to more of the same.

As a side note: I'm going to add another post on Friday and see how things go twice a week. Not saying the change will be permanent at this point, but definitely for a few weeks, I'm going to give it a try and see how it goes. So come back next Tuesday, as usual, but also look for an extra review on Friday, Kiddie Cops!

Update: Just realized you really can't see Rachel's eyes in the image above, so anyone unfamiliar with the series might not get the post header. Take my word for it that Moore draws Rachel's eyes in this series in a downright creepy way.