HOTELL
RELEASED OUT NOW! Publisher AWA Studios
Writer John Lees
Artist
Dalibor Talajic
Opening each issue with its mysterious host Jack Lynch breaking the fourth wall to talk to readers, this enthralling offering from ex-Marvelites Axel Alonso and Bill Jemas’s new company harks back to classic horror anthologies like DC’s House Of Secrets – though you’d be hardpressed to find anything as unnerving within their pages.
The four-parter centres around a sinister motel located just off Route 66 called Pierrot Courts, which you can seemingly only stumble upon by chance. It’s composed of a sequence of apparently self-contained stories, with each issue focusing on one of the occupants of its quartet of rooms, starting with #1’s disturbing Rosemary’s Baby-esque tale of a pregnant mother fleeing from her abusive partner. But with scenes being played from different perspectives as the various residents cross paths, connections begin to emerge and really come to a head in #3, which also reveals further intriguing details about Pierrot Courts’ malevolent history, expertly setting the stage for #4’s denouement.
Combining fine linework with a flair for grisly detail where necessary, Dalibor Talajic’s art meshes perfectly with John Lees’s unflinching script. It makes for a series that shouldn’t be missed – especially as, during these uncertain times, AWA is serialising each issue free online. Stephen Jewell