Finally, “House Of Gold & Bones” #3 offers readers answers to its darkest mysteries. The revelations push the narrative forward and steer the central protagonist in a surprisingly different direction. In his musical crossover to comics, Stone Sour’s Corey Taylor takes his readers into an nightmarish hellhole about the fear of the unknown.
WRITTEN BY: Corey Taylor
ART BY: Richard Clark
PUBLISHER: Dark Horse Comics
PRICE: $2.99
RELEASE: June 19th, 2013
A young man, known only as “Zero,” has been captured by Black John and his demonic gang of warriors. These vicious killers might possibly hold the key to Zero’s true identity. With their murderous red eyes on him, Zero doesn’t know where he actually is. The world outside is a never-ending city where everyone is possibly your enemy. In order to find out who he really is, Zero has to make a leap of faith into the unknown. But the shocking truth may be something he doesn’t want to hear.
In this issue, Taylor reveals the motivations behind Zero in the opening pages. The reveal explains just a bit as to why Zero is wearing a prisoner’s uniform. Zero is serving time in Hell as part of his punishment, but not for a crime you would actually think. There is still another mystery Taylor has to explain to his readers though. We don’t really know if Zero is stuck in Hell or if this is all in his head. Taylor provides an important clue halfway through the narrative, in really big letters.
Taylor takes readers away from the never-ending forest to the infinite city. The change of scenery adds to Zero’s “fish out of water” scenario. Zero doesn’t know the names of the streets and he still has no idea where he’s going. Notice how in the big city, Zero cannot make out any of the faces. Zero cannot distinguish any facial features because he doesn’t know who they are, nor does he know anything about his true nature.
In the opening pages. artist Richard Clark emphasizes Zero’s state of loneliness by keeping him separate from the rest of the world. In the flashback, Zero remembers the last time he was with his friends. At the beach party, Zero finds himself alone while the rest of the partygoers are having fun. Aided by the colors by Dan Jackson, Zero is the only person at the party depicted in black and white tones. While everybody else in color, Zero stands out because he doesn’t physically fit in.
My favorite part of Clark’s illustrations is the climactic scene in the park. Zero ends up being surrounded by every deranged citizen in the city. He has to take down each and every one of them with his bare firsts. Clark illustrates every single punch, swing, and jab as Zero fights for his dear life. No matter how times they fall, there is always someone else ready to get in the ring against Zero.
Even though half of the mystery is solved, “House of Gold and Bones” #3 continues to be an interesting journey into a nightmarish reality. In the next issue, I look forward to seeing how Zero reacts now knowing the truth.
4/5 Skulls
Reviewed by – Jorge Solis
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