Review by Frank Plowright

There has been some sort of war, but creator JH has been scanty on the detail despite a massive death toll. The Horizon 1 concerned itself instead with the fates of a young boy and a young girl brought to together in adversity wandering a desolate landscape where they faced the uncertainty of an unhinged man who attached himself to the pair.

An abrupt change of direction occurred to end the previous volume and the children now find themselves held in a room by a man in a suit. Technically the components are the same as the previous volume in featuring two children and a man whose motives are unknown, but the result is a very different form of isolation. The man in the suit watches over an almost deserted city and kills anyone who arrives with a weapon, as he does so philosophising about the right to life. He feeds and provides accommodation for the children in return for them watching a grid of TV screens connected to CCTV and contacting him when they see anyone.

In sparking discussions with someone who can actually have a conversation JH makes the children seem older than previously. They’re concerned about death, although now there’s a difference of opinion between them. When we discover the extent of that gulf, it’s an appalling revelation. One even worse is supplied in the following chapter.

JH continues to draw the children as innocents despite their innocence being eroded, their wide eyes now reflecting that more than previously. Don’t be fooled by the brightness of the cover, as the stark contrast of the black and white art within can be considered as a metaphor for their choices, and that art continues to be bleak, strange and expressive.

After the man with the suit there’s a brief interlude before a four chapter flashback. It explains the state of the world overall, why the bus where the children met was important, and the effect it’s now having. However, although slightly fleshing out the girl’s character, it’s largely without purpose as how the prevailing conditions came about hasn’t been the point of The Horizon to date, which has been how people are adapting to them. A case could be made for that applying to heartbreaking scenes of people aware death approaches, but as upsetting as these are, it also seems the few points being made might have been better incorporated elsewhere.

The flashback concludes here and there are big changes for The Horizon 3.