Review: Red Room #3

One element that is often overlooked in constructing a good comic is confidence. It may be a bit abstract but it does not take too long to recognize a comic that is confident in its own design, especially when that comic lives on the fringes of genre storytelling. Case and point, Ed Piskor’s latest comic Red Room. A book that almost dares you to like it with its graphic depictions of violence and abundance of objectionable characters. Red Room is classic horror schlock in its purest form and clearly proud of that.

As someone who has been a fan of Piskor’s work both on the page and his Cartoonist Kayfabe Youtube channel, this dedication to this specific design is extremely fitting. Piskor is a comic purest in every sense of the word. He promotes and creates comics that shake up the medium and it only takes a few page flips to see that on display. Shock is one thing. What about storytelling? With issue three we may get one of the more intriguing storylines of the series thus far.

The general premise is murder for profit on the dark web. These ‘Red Rooms’ are set up to record brutal torture scenes that people pay for using Cryptocurrency to avoid a paper trail. Despite the popularity of these rooms, law enforcement has been powerless to stop them due to the technology being used. Seeking help wherever they can find it, they may have stumbled across their first hope in years.

This issue opens with law enforcement integrating Levee Turks to try to get him to help them find these killers. Turks has been in jail for a few years. The technology he created is what allows these killers and their viewers to remain so anonymous. Although he is no fan of these rooms he is no snitch and refuses to help. That is until he is set free from jail under the condition he assists the Feds in their search.

One thing you have to credit Piskor with is his ability to build character instantaneously. Each issue so far has been a self-contained story making it welcoming for new readers, but the downside of that is the amount of groundwork you have to do in each and every issue. Within the first few pages, we have a good sense of who Turks is as a person and where his morality lies.

Some of it can come from clunky dialog. For example, a guard making a jab at his Libertarian ideals. That line is doing a lot of heavy lifting but does seem out of place for a law enforcement agent to say. Really the best character work is within the design. A character’s look should inform personality and that is exactly what it does. From the full beard and afro to the body posture during the interrogation-all of it is saying something important. I also feel the Malcolm X style glasses are a conscious choice as well. Right away Turks is this idyllic brash figure, but what is interesting is seeing that slowly dissipate throughout the issue.

To understand Turks’ change of heart there are a lot of small details. When he is shown images of the Red Room you can see his eyes never focus on the screen. In fact, the first time we see Turks his eyes are closed to show he believes in acts of defiance both big and small. His tune begins to change when his wife shows him the graphic depictions of what is actually happening.

When looking at those grotesque moments Piskor does not leave anything to chance. The violence is brutal, bloody, and unrelenting. Strangely if this was a movie I probably would have walked out at the beginning of the first issue. For some reason, in comic book form, my stomach can handle it a bit better. Admittedly it is also impacting my personal sensibility toward this type of violence. Three issues in and it is hard not to be desensitized to it all. Not that Piskor is not finding more and more creative ways for these characters to murder their victims. A crown made up of explosives was especially effective in this issue.

I love how this book keeps to the schlock look by having this throwback aesthetic. From the character designs to the look of the dark web videos. It is like looking at mid 90’s computer tech with the way the videos are formatted. Piskor also always keeps to the rule of always having something interesting on each page to grab the reader’s attention. Even something small like the smoke coming from a cup of coffee as Rita and Turks embrace. There is no denying the artistry of this book. His cartooning, especially when it comes to depicting facial features is some of the best in comics today.

One question I have is if this book is saying anything about the violence it so openly depicts. Is Ed Piskor trying to provide commentary on the way the amenity of the online experience has desensitized us to our own humanity? Or is it the opposite? Is Piskor trying to poke the bear and how overly sensitive we can be? When you have a mass murderer complain about the term ‘serial killer’ because it is a trigger word my assumption is the latter. Perhaps a bit of both. If there was one complaint is that so far there has not been much depth but that can change.

If I were to discuss the best part of this issue I would ruin the surprise, but suffice to say it does set up an intriguing dynamic moving forward. One that will most likely see the moral quandary of this creation analyzed a bit more. Even if Red Room is not a book that is going to click with you there’s no denying its presence makes the comic book world much more interesting. A feat that should be admired due to its rarity.

Rating: 4 out of 5

By Ed Piskor

Publisher: Fantagraphics

Author Profile

Daniel Clark

A fan of all things comics. Growing up on a healthy diet of 90's Batman and X-Men cartoon series ignited a love for the medium that remains strong today.