Advance Review: Killers Unite In ‘Buried Long, Long Ago’ #1

Belle Gunness is not your typical comic book serial killer.

First, the main character in Buried Long, Long Ago is a woman, which places her in special company. She’s also a Norwegian transplant to the US. And, perhaps most importantly, she is based on a real person.

While her introduction doesn’t come until several pages into the limited series’ first issue, it’s still a doozy. Artist Alex Cormack leaves little doubt that Belle is formidable as well as diabolical. Cormack’s initial depiction of Belle is striking: a three-quarters splash with the subject emerging from the fog with an unsettling smile on her face and eyes that cut through you. And the stark page is largely black-and-white, save for a bit of crimson rouge (at least we think it’s rouge) on her cheeks.

While the scene shows Belle greeting her three daughters at a train station, there’s no love behind the smile – just hints of manipulation. After all, this is a woman who is bound and determined to wring every last insurance dollar from each of her dearly departed husbands.

Anthony Cleveland’s story builds on the real-life Belle, who killed at least 14 people, mainly men she lured to her Indiana farm. Perhaps her greatest crime, though, is making her daughters accomplices to the murders.

But Cleveland isn’t satisfied with simply retelling Belle’s story. Instead, he’s adding a supernatural element – an ancient ogress who first appears in the little girls’ stories but who seems to making an appearance on the farm. It feels as though the story will climax with an ogress versus serial killer confrontation. Bring it on!

Belle’s story is outrageous enough that it doesn’t really need that supernatural element. So it will be curious to see how Cleveland weaves the tales together as well as how Cormack illustrates the pair.

Buried Long, Long Ago #1 will be available at comic book shops on Wednesday, April 16th from Mad Cave.