Crossed: Badlands #7-9

By Sharayah Read On July 23, 2012 · Leave a Comment · In Comic Books

Written By: Jamie Delano

Art By: Leandro Rizzo

Colours By: Digikore Studios

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When we last left off with issues 4-6 of this bi-weekly Crossed series, Steve and Greg were on the verge of a meet up with the twins and Leon, while his father and renegade friends (now Crossed) make an attempt to hunt the little bastard down and make him pay for the destruction he caused. Now, flash forward just three issues and every aspect of this groups tale is different. Having taken an unpredictable path into sheer doom for some and a chance for a new life for others, this is a game changing Crossed story that you DO NOT want to miss.

With Steve pregnant, Leon dead via an angry and unsexed twin, Greg playing Crossed puppy and the twins now under the influence, on the hunt for their new bitch-mother aka Steve, things within these last three issues of Delano’s run got serious super quick. I don’t want to discuss much of the plot but, what I will say is that I never expected such a coherent and well-thought out Crossed display to ever come in any of the series’, especially from someone other than Ennis or Lapham. Thankfully, these more evolved Crossed are giving it yet another step up on your typical zombie-esque apocalyptic tale – these guys know full well what they are doing to you and continue to do so any way.

The Crossed are not only the bringers of death and torture but, now of new life as well. They have become more mentally stable throughout the progression of series’ and have finally reached a brink – they have the ability to reason, think and thus strengthening their hunting skills to an extreme. Even when Steve leaves behind a new-found love as bait, the twins and their chubby Crossed buddies manage to stay on her trail and cut her off the moment of her dreaded child’s birth. Leaving her with very limited options: Join or die. But, then again it could just be happen stance with the twins when they turned.

I said it before and I will say it again, Delano has blown me straight out of the water with his addition to this already grand and astonishing series. We spend a lot more time following the group of changed people than normal in these last issues, showcasing their growth and progression into what they consider ‘homo-superiors’ and what I consider bloody horrifying! It reminds me a lot of the film Fido, and the idea that if you allow these new beings to exist long enough they will fall back into old habits and knowledge that was once lost during the original transformations.

In addition to the overwhelmingly great plot points comes it’s beautifully torn portrayal at the hands of Rizzo and Digikore, both of which have moved up greatly in my ‘names to watch for’ list. Digikore for it’s consistently brilliant colouring for Avatar and Rizzo for showing us that Crossed can not only look gross but, so can those surviving them. No artist in this series to date, as far as I am concerned, has shown the survivors in such a hopeless manner. There is never a glimpse of hope or chance on their faces, or anything other than resentment, sick jokes and misplaced anger for that matter. I knew something huge was coming of this within the first few issues from the art alone and judging by my proper predictions, I’m going to safely say that this is really great stuff.

Delano and Rizzo’s run of Crossed: Badlands has proven to be a truly unique and inspirational take on the world of Crossed, one worth purchasing for any horror fan. 10 bashed in heads out of 10.

Next: The long awaited return of Burrows and Lapham. (YAY!)