Fearscape Presents: A Dark Interlude

In the first volume (which I could have sworn that I reviewed a while back), writer Henry Henry stole a manuscript from his mentor, polished it up, and had it published as the novel “Terror Forming.”  It wound up making him the chosen storyteller in the eyes of those who inhabit the Fearscape, where human creativity resides and is under constant siege by its fears.  Unfortunately for everyone involved, Henry’s failings only started at plagiarism and by the end of the story he was a murderer as well.  Locked up for his crimes, that was to be the last we heard from the writer even after “Terror Forming” became a monstrous hit.

It was not to be as the first “Fearscape” miniseries was popular enough to warrant this most dreadful of things:  A sequel.  Henry should know since he rants against it on the back cover and in the preface as he states that his publisher has taken his therapy writings and is now positioning them as the follow-up they believe the public wants.  He only has himself to blame, however, as the Fearscape now finds itself under siege from a “Sequel Crisis” as humanity refuses to let go of its past glories, allowing old and previously conquered fears to re-emerge.  Does this mean a redemption arc is in store for Henry, allowing him to become the storyteller humanity needs in its darkest hour?  Or will he wind up dead because it’s so much easier for a publisher to deal with a difficult author if he’s not around anymore?

For all that his narrative harps upon the failings of sequels, and its bastard offspring the extended universe, writer Ryan O’Sullivan does go about making his point in an interesting way.  I’m not just talking about the supernatural clash of forces in the Fearscape, or the return of its last great hero William Shakespeare (or is he?).  No, it’s in the real world as we get to see the various literary and personal forces that come together to show how a world demands and subsists off of sequels at the expense of creativity.  To the point where one character decides that it’s best to simply demolish the foundation of literature, the Western Canon, so that we may finally move forward as storytellers after all these centuries!

It’s interesting, but I wouldn’t exactly say that it’s compelling.  While I appreciate the writer’s caustic wit, delivered via Henry’s narration, it’s not hard to see how others might find it grating if they’re not onboard with it from the start.  I also think he goes a bit too far by showing people rioting in the streets as a byproduct of the “Sequel Crisis,” as it feels like he’s stacking the deck in favor of his argument than making a solid point about it.

In fact, for all of the cleverness of the writing, “A Dark Interlude” feels more like you’re reading an essay in the form of a comic.  O’Sullivan has points he wants to make about sequels, the system which perpetuates them, the canon which allowed them in the first place, and it feels like everything from the real-world and Fearscape settings to the characters themselves are here to articulate and further it.  As I said, it can be quite clever as one character figures the means to end the “Sequel Crisis” is to produce a follow-up to one of his classic works that is so bad it will destroy his entire reputation as a writer.  It’s just that it all feels in service of a concept than an actual story.

Original artist Andrea Mutti returns to illustrate the first two issues of “A Dark Interlude” in much the same style as the first.  That is to say he handles both the real and fantastical parts of the story in a perfectly competent fashion, with a grounded look and shading that suggests greater depth than it actually displays.  While I can’t quite rule out that the change in artist to Piotr Kowalski was done for narrative reasons as opposed to, say, scheduling issues, it’s a welcome one as his is the more appealing style.  He’s not a flashier artist than Mutti, but Kowalski’s art feels more energetic and has a cleaner look to it that doesn’t feel like it’s trying too hard.

Both volumes of “Fearscape” are interesting and worth checking out if you’re looking for stories about storytelling that maintain a decidedly cynical tone.  They can be exhausting in their approach to their subjects, but for all of its issues, I enjoyed them both.  “A Dark Interlude” deserves special mention, however, for not being a simple rehash of the first story and for trying something new even as it maintains a certain contempt for its own existence.  If nothing else, it does make me wonder what a third volume would be like, even though it would probably start off with Henry bellowing, “DID YOU READERS LEARN NOTHING!!!” and then screaming in captions for the rest of the volume’s length.