Daisy

Writer / Artist
RATING:
Daisy
Daisy graphic novel review
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  • North American Publisher / ISBN: Dark Horse - 978-1-50673-001-1
  • Release date: 2022
  • UPC: 9781506730011
  • Contains adult content?: yes
  • Does this pass the Bechdel test?: yes
  • Positive minority portrayal?: no
  • CATEGORIES: Horror, Supernatural

Although set in the USA, the feeling of Daisy evokes cult British horror film The Wicker Man, in which a rational person is confronted with an irrational truth in a remote, strongly bound community. Echoes of other classic horror films occur as Colin Lorimer rolls out a memorably disturbing tale, characterised by his excellent art.

Conor Mullane has been missing for five years when his mother receives a strange phone call with a message containing information only he would know. She tracks it down to a small rural town where she meets Daisy, a woman seemingly ten feet tall. It’s a fair leap from there to the reclaiming of the lost divine word of creation, but Lorimer’s set this up well by opening Daisy with scenes from another era accompanied by pseudo-Biblical narration. Has Lindsay Taylor ended up in a cult of mad folk, or is theirs a genuine trail to the unknown?

There’s a fair switching between contrasting locations needed to complete Daisy, and Lorimer invests both with grandeur, while the opening rural setting is detailed, and complimented by the autumnal colours provided by Joana Lafuente. The remaining horror is visceral, but beautifully drawn, Lorimer just as detailed and even more creative once the truth is revealed.

Thoughtful horror is comparatively rare in comics, where the visceral is easily presented, and while there’s no shortage of brutal moments, Lorimer’s involving background sustains an interest. As the art is such an obvious attraction, it may overshadow the writing being equally good. The plot is viable, the pacing just right, and a steady stream of shocks occur, none more so than the opening chapter’s punch in the face.

From the ordinary beginning Daisy escalates into something massive without ever losing sight of humanity and it’s some achievement.

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