A Frightening Family Affair: Reviewing ‘Dark Ride’ #7

Dark Ride has always been as much about family strife as it has dealt with horror and theme parks. In this issue, writer Joshua Williamson dials up the family angst to 11.

The issue opens with a flashback to Sam and Halloween’s mom, who died under mysterious circumstances. Their dad Arthur holds court for the first time, pitting child against child and himself against both of them. And investigative reporter Summer is trying to get to the bottom of her brother’s death in Devil’s Land.

It’s enough familial drama to make you wish you were a bastard.

It’s our first opportunity to spend significant quality time with patriarch Arthur Dante. With a family like this, though, he’s pretty much the kind of father you’d expect. So when a family gathering ends with a physical altercation, it’s a shock to no one.

The family drama makes Williamson’s script the most relatable of the series to date – though thankfully most of us don’t have quite this level of turmoil when dealing with relatives.

The biggest downside is that we don’t get to see much of the park, which has been one of the series’ a visual highlights. Artist Andrei Bressan does give readers a peak into Club 666 – Devil’s Land version of Disney’s ultra-exclusive Club 33. The Dark Ride version includes luxury seating, a well-established bar and a table made out of bones.

Despite not having much to work with, Bressan does an admirable job of demonstrating the impact of the family angst on the characters. Add in colorist Adriano Lucas’ use of reds in prominent places – including in mom’s “medicine,” dad’s diabolical silhouette and a shark attack, and you have plenty to look at in this this issue.

As has often been the case in previous installments, this issue ends with a pretty frightening cliffhanger designed to keep readers coming back. That shouldn’t be much of a problem for this series.

Dark Ride #7 is currently available for purchase at your local comics shop.