Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Review: Hellraiser #14

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After decades of serving as Hell’s priestly servant, Pinhead grew weary. Bored by the tortures of the puzzle box, the iconic killer hatched a plan to claw his way free from Hell. To leave, Pinhead had to find a suitable replacement, and offered his power to the only human to ever defeat the Cenobites: Kirsty Cotton. Kirsty accepted Pinhead’s offer, hoping to save her family and friends, but becoming an unwitting accomplice in a plan to remake the world. Now, the former Pinhead, Captain Elliott Spencer, builds a nation-state of the damned in India, while Kirsty reels following the loss of a loved one…


 
Now Kirsty has managed to make an uneasy alliance much to her Cenobites chagrin.  The common thread is watching Elliott Spencer suffer.  Can they accomplish their goal without causing too much undo attention to themselves is the real question.
 
It would seem that Captain Elliott Spencer isn’t as free as he was hoping to be.  Originally he thought that by having Kirsty take his place he could forget his past and live out his days as a normal man.  That was a dream that was never meant to be.  Once his memories were returned to him he started down the path that made him Pinhead in the first place. 
 
There was a reason he was made Pinhead in the first place and served Hell as he did.  That kind of person isn’t truly able to change who they are no matter how much they desire too at one point in time.  As we see now he’s built an army of the damned in India and has gained powers no mortal man should have.
 
Immortality for Elliott Spencer is a scary thing to think about.  Then again he still has Kirsty to deal with on the opposite side.  Ever since they switched places with each other it would seem that their roles remained the same.  Yin to Yang and constant struggle with each other as Elliott became a monster in the form of a man while Kirsty in the form of a monster, who has been outcast from the other denizens of Hell, hunts him still.
 
Thankfully Clive Barker is still involved here making this a truly bizarre and wonderful read.  Together the two of them make the struggles of right vs. wrong, good vs. evil and man’s eternal struggle more than the reader could have bargained for.  Also it doesn’t hurt that this book has some talented artists who keep the mood in synch with the story.  Much is left in shadow leaving the details to the reader’s imagination making it that much more interactive and horrifying. 
 
A horror tale with a conscience isn’t a bad thing actually here it is an incredibly good one.

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