Vault is my new favorite comics publisher. With many of their titles, they combine socially relevant ideas and science fiction/horror/fantasy that gives their stories a more profound meaning while still being entertaining and thought-provoking. The initial idea of portraying race relations as a chasm is what drove me to buy a copy of Fissure by Tim Daniel in the first place.

El Sueno was always a divided town. On one side you have the US and the other side we have Mexico. One day, a mysterious gas erupts from the ground with a rumble, and the mental divide that had always split the town is now a physical one. Many townsfolk fall into the chasm, while others are driven by some force that attracts them. At the heart of the story is Romeo and Juliet lovers, pregnant Latina Avery Lee Olmos, and Hark Wright. The conflicts, familial, and cultural that keep them apart turn into physical and horror laden. What lies in the abyss of that sinkhole will test a young couple's ability to survive. They need to join together to survive the chasm. Something wicked lays at the bottom of that hole, something not quite human.

There are a lot of well-done aspects of this story. First and foremost is the excellent writing done by Tim Daniel (Enormous, The Plot). Daniel managed to capture the tension and nuances of a community divided by politics in a way that was not heavy-handed. It was apparent what the struggles were that El Sueno faced as a community, without coming out and slamming the readers face in it. The Romeo and Juliet type love story also fits well within the context of a divided society. Again it wasn't heavy-handed, but sweet. Hark and Avery could have been any couple that struggled with the divide of culture and politics. Instead, because of the excellent writing, they came off as real people rather than caricatures of a Latina and a southern white man. Also, the story is told partially in Spanish. I loved that. It is a rare thing to have multiple languages in a graphic novel, and second, it is appropriate for the story and a city that straddles Mexico and the US.

The graphics are gorgeous. Each of the panels has a slight tinge of a supernatural green to them, letting the reader know that not all is right. Again, I didn't find this to be heavy-handed. Instead, it added a sinister, almost sickly quality to the graphics that let me know that not all was right with El Sueno.

My only slight complaint was that Fissure could have been longer. There could have been more story told. Near the end of the book, the story felt a little rushed. I wanted to know more about Avery and Hark's struggle to escape. I wanted to learn more about the creatures and why they were there.

Overall, Fissure was a great addition to the Vault catalog. It had everything a horror comic needs plus a lot more to make the issues more substantial and memorable. Also, because Daniel is such a great writer, I will be checking out some of his other works.

Check out Fissure and let me know what you think.

I rather enjoyed this book. Amidst the tensions of a border town in the U.S. people have been disappearing and a strange fissure opens up in the ground. The relationships between the characters are interesting. I particularly liked how Avery's father and Hark's grandmother mirrored each other. Some of the characters speak Spanish (without translation), which I thought was a nice touch for defining the setting.

This is not an action packed book though. It builds to the threat and the characters respond it in ways other than brute force. The art is pretty good too. It uses the horror standard of hinting at the evil that is just out of sight. The coloring might be the best part though. It really makes the book stand apart.

I was hoping for more with the description of the book. Ultimately I found myself bored and almost unable to finish it. The partial reveal after Avery Lee and Hark find out what happened, sort of, to his father was interesting.. But, that was a disappointment, too.

The aspect of 70s and, by extension, early 80s horror with some modern sensibility seems to be integrating a little bit into the modern culture currently. The metaphors that were prevalent then seem ingrained in the consciousness now but with a greater sense of informational overload. “Fissure” [Tim Daniel/Vault/112pgs] takes an aspect of body snatcher movies and mixes it with a sense of “Tremors” to create the story of a Texas town under attack. The divide is a large opening in the earth that doesn’t discern between Texans and immigrants. This, of course, is the key intersecting part of the story which creates the tension early on despite an over inundation of would-be social relevance. At the heart of the story is Hark and his Hispanic girlfriend Avery Lee. The chemistry is doctrine but real (say if Ryan Gosling and Eva Mendes played the parts) but is based in a texture that both are essentially good people. When the entire the town is seemingly swallowed up including Hark’s dad, they must go into the pit to find what is lost. In the latter half of the book, the underground green texture has almost an oozy feeling of the end of “Aliens” with Hicks and Ripley but without the cool tech (plus Avery Lee is pregnant). Ultimately, say like “Monsters”, escape is possible in one way but impossible in the other although the set up at the end is a little circumspect. Despite this, “Fissure” tries to tell a pertinent story yet tells it only adequately.

C

By Tim Wassberg

Really quick to read comics and let's be honest, probably not even worth your time. I like sci-fi/horror stories and this sounds amazing at first, it really does. It did to me. But then you get just mix of really boring, uninteresting characters (yeah, let's make couple go through this shit together, oh wait, the woman should be pregnant!), let us put the Mexicans in Texas and what about one group will hate the other group. And then, what about, wow, weird fissure appears! People start to fall into that! There is weird green gas/shadows/whatever. But actually, it is not! There is something lurking beneath the surface! What is it? I have frickin' no idea. I have no idea what that was. Still not interested? It's happening all around the world and the agent is questioning the main characters who went through it all! Wow, amazing right?!
Okay no, honestly, it could have been much much better if some parts were deleted, some better added, the concept sounds really good and even those bad... things, looked pretty cool. The artwork was good, nothing breathtaking. Disappointment at its finest.

Fissure is an interesting graphic novel. It has some great artwork and coloring. The story was intresting right up to the end!

This started out okay but by the time it reached the end I couldn't wait for it to be over. Doesn't have enough going for it to keep me interested in continuing as a series.
Big plus that would have helped promote this book which I noticed when reading it was the Goodreads page had limited info and could not be edited. No page count so every time I read so many pages a lost opportunity was had when I couldn't update page count. Nor the right cover for this book was featured there.

I would say that Fissure ranks a solid 3 for me. It's a quick read horror/supernatural comic with elements of magical realism that focuses on the small town of El Sueno, Texas as a literal split tears up the ground of the community. There's nothing subtle about the story, of course - although I'd argue plenty of horror starts off with pretty blatant tropes to build on. The supernatural fissure in El Sueno reflects the divide in the town between the latino (probably mostly Mexican) working class/poor population and the working class/poor Anglos also living in the town. The problem is racism. In this sense the story isn't subtle, and it's 100% realistic (as someone who is half Mexican-American and half white myself, I can say this kind of depiction of a town's racial tensions is completely fair.)

The story mostly follows the impact of the crack/fissure through the eyes of the young couple of Avery Lee Olmos (latina) and Hark Wright (anglo). They're going to have a baby. Hark's dad is racist. Look, these elements in the comic aren't badly written or unimportant, but I'll be honest - I think their handling could have been used for better effect in making the horror stronger. The tensions are there, but I found myself wishing for a bit more suspense and creeping realizations in the story.

There were parts of the story that could have been shortened or cut in order to give more time and pacing to the fissure itself, the way it drew people into it, and so on. The reactions to the fissure reminded me a bit of Junji Ito's The Enigma of Amigara Fault, but without the same psychological-horror gut punch. (I know, any comparison to the master Junji Ito is going to be a little unfair, but it was the best way I could think to explain the attraction to the fissure as a reveal, and the compulsiveness it invokes).

Artist Patricio Delpeche does a good job - his style reminded me a bit of Curse Words' Ryan Browne, and God Country's Geoff Shaw in small parts. He has a lot to work with in terms of pacing and there's some splash pages that I'm not sure needed to be taking up so much space, but overall I expect more going forwards.

If a friend asked for a supernatural-horror comic this might be on the list, but I don't think I'll be picking it up personally.

Goes every direction, gets nowhere.
It's already clear that the town is politically and ethnically divided. No need for any crack in the pavement. The so called horror allegory is superfluous.

I really liked the artwork of this comic. I liked the story but I feel like it could have been more fleshed out. It seemed a little rushed in the beginning but it settled into itself pretty quickly. I liked the science fiction aspect of the story but I kind of wish there had been more to the story. It just seemed like there could have been a few more issues to really flesh out the story. As much as I liked it it felt incomplete. The artwork is fantastic and I really enjoyed the large panels that showed off the illustrations so well. Overall, this is a pretty solid comic and I think that sci-fi fans will have fun reading it.

actual rating: 2.5

I'm rounding this up because it's definitely a solid idea and the artwork is absolutely gorgeous, but still there is definitely something lacking in the actual plot execution. As a first volume of a series this would be a really solid start, but I think it's supposed to be the entire story and it's just not satisfying enough for that. As I said before, the artwork is gorgeous, but this is only four issues long and a lot of time is devoted to full art pages with very little dialogue - not great for building a compelling plot.

I like the characters and I like the general idea of the story - definitely a very modern, relevant, and realistic take on horror. I could see something like this being an episode of the new Twilight Zone for sure. But at the end of the volume I was just kind of left sitting there going 'that's it???' and couldn't believe there wasn't more. I think even just one more issue would have been good to pad out the story a bit more.

'Fissure' by Tim Daniel with art by Patricio Delpeche is a clever horror concept that illustrates a town and how it is divided. Sort of.

El Sueno, Texas, is close to the border. It's population has a good mix of people. There is also a nearby newly finished border wall. That doesn't stop Hark Wright from seeing his pregnant girlfriend Avery Lee Olmos. What might stop them is the giant fissure running down the middle of the street, and the weird monsters that live inside of it. While townfolk are strangely called to jump in, Hark is saved from doing the same by Avery. Together they have to get out and maybe save the town.

I liked the concept a bit more than the execution, but I still liked this story. I think I know what the writer was attempting and it got close in my mind. Perhaps in any subsequent story, it will come together a bit better. I did like Patricio Delpeche's art though, and it fit the creepty aspects of the story pretty well.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Vault Comics, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

An average book. The characters were likeable and I got the point of the story, but the story wasn't fleshed out enough - felt more like an outline, than an actual story.
The tale deals with a border town near the wall between US and Mexico, where a supernatural event occurs. While I liked the set-up and the idea, the authors talked about their point too head on. And the supernatural element wasn't explored enough for my liking. I have nothing against books, that use the story to make a social or political commentary, but I still want to read a story. So, even as I agree with the authors on political issues, I still find the book lacking.
The art is OK.

An Allegory for Our Times

So, what does this sound like to you? In a small Texas town on the Mexico border the residents are split between native Texans and recent immigrants. Simmering resentments and open violence mark the divide between the two groups. One day a crack opens up along Main Street, literally dividing the town in half, and there is something evil at the bottom of the chasm that draws people to it. As the town collapses and people disappear into the void, Hank Wright and his pregnant Hispanic girlfriend, Avery Lee Olmos, are the only hope for survival as they fight the evil within.

This sounds more hamfisted than it actually is. The story is action/adventure, but it has an obvious twist that enhances, but doesn't get in the way of, the story. You could read this as a zombie/"Tremors" sort of tale if you'd like to, or you could read it as a clever allegory, and either approach seemed fine to me.

A cynic might point out that Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos and Trump's Wall mythos actually have more in common than is good for us.

Anyway, apart from slightly over the top family drama involving Hank and his Dad, this is tightly written and fast paced. What's in the chasm is handled well. Hank and Avery are the central figures, and they develop in an engaging fashion. Heck, a kick butt creature-fighting no-crap pregnant heroine is always a welcome touch.

The art is fine, and takes care of business, but I wasn't blown away. Actually, given the evil creature angle the drawing and inking was very restrained, and in this case that helped sell the story by not just letting it become surreal or gory.

My bottom line was that I enjoyed this tale, and admired what the author was trying to do. The series originally came out as four issues, and has now been collected, so either the book or the four issue set does consist of a complete story arc. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)