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moirwyn's review
4.0
This review originally appeared on my blog, Books Without Any Pictures:
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2017/03/08/b-e-k-black-eyed-kids-volume-1-by-joe-pruett-szymon-kudranski/
Several years ago, my friend Sam and I were walking around on a crisp winter night. We were in a very rural residential neighborhood. We were approached by a white van filled with pale giggling children with dark eyes. Even the driver looked no older than twelve. They kept asking us where they could find Christmas lights. “Why, they’re all around us,” we replied. “Get in the van and show us,” they said. But these children were hella creepy, and there was no way we’d even consider getting in that van. They got annoyed and drove away down a one-way street and vanished into the night. We never saw them come out.
It was only later that we learned about the legend of the Black-Eyed Children, who are rumored to show up at people’s homes asking to be let in.
So, when my local comic book store had a trade paperback of the Black-Eyed Kids comics, I knew I had to read it. Normally, when I buy a book, I wait a while before I read it. But I devoured Black-Eyed Kids Vol. 1 the moment I got home. It presents an eerie take on the Black-Eyed Children legend, and I loved it. It’s about a little kid named Michael, and he’s turning. And apparently the process of turning from a normal child into a black-eyed kid involves killing your entire family. Meanwhile, a woman named Meredith has been abducted by the black-eyed kids, who want her to chronicle the demise of humanity.
The art in Black-Eyed Kids adds to the creepiness factor. Most of the panels are drawn in blue-tinged nighttime colors, which are dramatically interspersed with short bursts of red for impact. It has the feeling of a nighttime storm. It set the mood so well.
The ending did feel somewhat abrupt–most of the trades I read feel like more of a complete piece of the story arc. But I suppose that just means that I’ll have to buy the next volume when it’s released in April.
If you’re into creepy and atmospheric horror, then Black-Eyed Kids is a solid choice that explores an urban legend that isn’t already overdone in mainstream media.
http://bookswithoutanypictures.com/2017/03/08/b-e-k-black-eyed-kids-volume-1-by-joe-pruett-szymon-kudranski/
Several years ago, my friend Sam and I were walking around on a crisp winter night. We were in a very rural residential neighborhood. We were approached by a white van filled with pale giggling children with dark eyes. Even the driver looked no older than twelve. They kept asking us where they could find Christmas lights. “Why, they’re all around us,” we replied. “Get in the van and show us,” they said. But these children were hella creepy, and there was no way we’d even consider getting in that van. They got annoyed and drove away down a one-way street and vanished into the night. We never saw them come out.
It was only later that we learned about the legend of the Black-Eyed Children, who are rumored to show up at people’s homes asking to be let in.
So, when my local comic book store had a trade paperback of the Black-Eyed Kids comics, I knew I had to read it. Normally, when I buy a book, I wait a while before I read it. But I devoured Black-Eyed Kids Vol. 1 the moment I got home. It presents an eerie take on the Black-Eyed Children legend, and I loved it. It’s about a little kid named Michael, and he’s turning. And apparently the process of turning from a normal child into a black-eyed kid involves killing your entire family. Meanwhile, a woman named Meredith has been abducted by the black-eyed kids, who want her to chronicle the demise of humanity.
The art in Black-Eyed Kids adds to the creepiness factor. Most of the panels are drawn in blue-tinged nighttime colors, which are dramatically interspersed with short bursts of red for impact. It has the feeling of a nighttime storm. It set the mood so well.
The ending did feel somewhat abrupt–most of the trades I read feel like more of a complete piece of the story arc. But I suppose that just means that I’ll have to buy the next volume when it’s released in April.
If you’re into creepy and atmospheric horror, then Black-Eyed Kids is a solid choice that explores an urban legend that isn’t already overdone in mainstream media.
howlinglibraries's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. I thought this had a lot of potential to be awesome, especially as someone who has been following the "black-eyed kids" urban legends a loooong time. It's not something I really ever see depicted in media, so I was pretty excited to learn this graphic novel series existed, but sadly, it was really boring and the art was so dark that I could barely make out any details at all. I won't be continuing the series. The only reason I'm giving it 2 stars is because I was intrigued by the subplot idea of these black-eyed kids having been around on the planet for a long time and having slowly plotted this world takeover sort of ordeal.
content warnings: death, violence, animal death
content warnings: death, violence, animal death
heypretty52's review against another edition
5.0
Baffled by some of the other first reviewers. BEK #1 is one of the strongest horror/thriller first issues I've read in quite some time! Perfectly dark art for a truly creepy comic.
lilyn_g's review against another edition
3.0
Black Eyed Kids Vol 1 covers the first five issues of the series. It is set in a small no-name town, and starts immediately into the creepy with no lead up. In some ways, this is nice, but on the other hand, I didn’t have a reason to connect with any of the characters, so I didn’t care who lived and who died.
Black Eyed Kids Vol 1was a weird read and one that I can’t say I particularly enjoyed. The dark tones were fine, but the style the people were illustrated in meant it was sometimes hard to be clear on who was who. The layout is clear. I had no problems following the panels in the appropriate order.
The plot itself was not particularly engaging. The creators’ interpretation of Black Eyed Kids seemed to be boringly alien-esque in origin. That or perhaps Children of the Corn, considering the leader is a young and smaller child and they’re interested in bringing all the kids into the fold. This is not a story where just a few kids are doing the knocking, but where the populace is steadily being converted.
The cover art on the individual issues were very nice. Each cover was done in blues and black and then repeated in red and black. I particularly liked the cover for issue number three. Issue five’s cover made my skin crawl a bit, but that’s because I’m tryptophobic rather than it being particularly creepy.
My favorite panel in the whole volume comes in issue five, where one of the characters is rising from the floor with the end of a cross shoved through his throat. It’s deliciously disturbing .
If I had picked up just an individual issue or two, I would not have went out of my way to continue the series. As it is, I did find a small amount of enjoyment in Black Eyed Kids Vol 1. Most of this due to the art work rather than the story itself.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss for review consideration.
Black Eyed Kids Vol 1was a weird read and one that I can’t say I particularly enjoyed. The dark tones were fine, but the style the people were illustrated in meant it was sometimes hard to be clear on who was who. The layout is clear. I had no problems following the panels in the appropriate order.
The plot itself was not particularly engaging. The creators’ interpretation of Black Eyed Kids seemed to be boringly alien-esque in origin. That or perhaps Children of the Corn, considering the leader is a young and smaller child and they’re interested in bringing all the kids into the fold. This is not a story where just a few kids are doing the knocking, but where the populace is steadily being converted.
The cover art on the individual issues were very nice. Each cover was done in blues and black and then repeated in red and black. I particularly liked the cover for issue number three. Issue five’s cover made my skin crawl a bit, but that’s because I’m tryptophobic rather than it being particularly creepy.
My favorite panel in the whole volume comes in issue five, where one of the characters is rising from the floor with the end of a cross shoved through his throat. It’s deliciously disturbing .
If I had picked up just an individual issue or two, I would not have went out of my way to continue the series. As it is, I did find a small amount of enjoyment in Black Eyed Kids Vol 1. Most of this due to the art work rather than the story itself.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from Edelweiss for review consideration.
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