Review – ‘Jumpscare #2’ Is A Comic Made Specifically For Fans Of Horror

Welcome to the table,

I’m notoriously bad at watching the same shows and movies over and over again until I burn myself out on them. This often makes it difficult to find new stuff to enjoy. More than not, my tastes are genre-blended, and the long-form horror category has a lot fewer options than police dramas or arguing house wives.

The stories I am looking for have monsters, ghosts, and strange creatures clashing with witty charming protagonists in a modern setting. I would not turn down a show set in ancient Rome where gladiators fought Lovecraftian horrors, but until someone lets me write “Et tu, Cthulhu?” I’m pretty much locked into what I have on hand.

I’m in luck right now, though, because my pal Cullen Bunn has a series out from Dark Horse Comics called Jumpscare, and it’s second issue was even better than it’s first!

Cullen and artist Danny Luckert continue the story of the horror fan turned vigilante Jumpscare, in a super solid second issue of a four issue series.

We get some insight into Jumpscare’s past. We find out her sister has been kidnapped by a hulking multi-mouthed monster named Grindhouse, who seems like some otherworldly combination of King Pin and a Gibbering Mouther.

The characterization of a creature like Grindhouse not only being a conversationalist, but also having minions who look like they could fit in to any “gang” in any modern day police procedural really brings me joy. Much like what Cullen and Brian Hurtt did in The Damned, the injection of monsters who look like monsters while working and acting in society, even if it is the criminal underworld of it, really works for me and pulls me into a story quicker than a clown in the sewer.

Jumpscare reads like a classic street-level comic along the lines of Daredevil or Batman, but rather than dealing with drug dealers or purse snatchers, the hooligans found in these pages come off more like deranged cultists who have watched The Purge far to many times.

As a fan of horror, that is really where the book shines. Jumpscare is one of the only horror comics that feels it’s made for horror fans. From the titular characters ability to summon weapons from various horror movies, to the bloated monsters mod boss named Grindhouse, to the crazed masked cult gang, Jumpscare is an adventure story told in a horror world and does a brilliant job page after page of never letting the reader forget that.

Until next time, the world being crafted in these pages really feels so fun and laced with ancient evil and looming dread, without ever managing to feel oppressive or depressing. That is one of the coolest things this book does. It breathes horror, but it does so with a smile on its lips. I absolutely love that.