Henry & Butcher #2 (Pit Bros – Ventura / Blanco) – Things get more complicated. Henry is trapped in a strange place full of darkness and chaos. Now, he will have to stay alive in a dirty madhouse while some sinister characters seem to make everything even more twisted. This quarterly black and white series shows a lot of promise. Henry and Butcher easily falls under the horror category not because of blood or gore, even though a little of that is there too, but because of the psychological aspects to this book. Issue two opens up as Henry, a former heavy weight champ, is trapped in some sort of asylum or center and is having his brain / body experimented on. We watch as outside forces, or perhaps Henry’s own psyche, tries to help him out through various hallucinations to try to snap Henry out of his zombie-like state. Butcher, who is either a roommate in the hellish place, or a figment of Henry’s imagination sends messages to try get Henry on track. Meanwhile there some gruesome apparitions that are starting to haunt the place and takeout inmates and workers alike. Gonzalo Ventura writes a wonderfully paced psychological thriller as the reader is unsure of what to accept and what is part of Henry’s delusional state. Martin Blanco shows that he has talent too, while some of the pages seemed like they were done in a hurry, some of the art sequences are exactly what was needed with this dark story and done with great detail. The three pages that individually show the “apparitions” stand out to me as prime pieces in Mr. Blanco’s portfolio. While it seems there is still some shining up to do, for the psychological horror fan, Henry & Butcher is a good bet!
Issue Grade: B+
