Customer Reviews

2012: Final Prayer

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading Heske Horror's Bone Chillers: Tales of Suburban Murder & Malice, I became an avid fan. So when I picked up my copy of 2012: Final Prayer, I was in heaven. Now that we are nearing the year 2010, people are looking toward the fated year of 2012 with more concern and pessimism. Movies, televisions shows full of Mayan and Nostradamus predictions, and books are picking up on the mass fear and trend of the world possibly ending in 2012. In most cases, these forms of media are either some or all of three things: fear inducing, prophetic, and cliché, which by their very nature ride the tide of a popular concern that will see to it that sales are made. It is tiresome and cookie cutter.

Heske Horror does it right. 2012: Final Prayer is neither cookie cutter nor cliché. A collection of comic book style stories written and drawn by different people and teams, 2012 fills you with shock, awe, foreboding, disgust, and fear. And yes, despite it, you may even laugh once or twice. The art styles are so different from one story to the next that the comic book is a true work of masterful art. Some stories, such as Final Choices or Hollow Victory, are stark and busy, and so chaotic and pretty that they really highlight the intense apocalyptic moment intended for depiction. Yet other stories like Veils are simple and poignant, and certainly no less perfectly rendered.

There are times when you will connect with stories and characters and then feel oddly disjointed by the surreal path some of them take because you are there with them. The impending sense of doom will get to you, sink into you so much so that you'll need air once you finish reading. Nightmares even may happen. And yet sometimes there are hints of hope and optimism that will confuse you as much as it sweetens you up and helps you accept the horrors all around and surely ahead. I think that is the way these stories should be instead of mere prophecies and warnings.

I love things that creep me out, but also make me go, "oh, that was just lovely." 2012 did just that. Underneath all of it was such a level of art and beauty that it could not be denied that even the grossest of moments were completely exhilarating. The cover itself speaks volumes of the quality of what it inside: horses of the apocalypse charging over a city with a little boy gazing at it from the distance in utter shock. I wish that they had not changed the cover from the edition I got. The innocence, the realism, the happiness, the horror, the acceptance, it's all there. The whole spectrum of how people deal, how they manage. It is all wonderfully rendered in black and white from cover to cover.

I remain a big fan and cannot wait to see what Heske Horror puts out next because I am going to be at the front of the line for a copy.

I am not convinced the world will end on 12/21/12, but hey you never know.If it does, I hope my credit cards are max'ed out. Still, I found this diverse array of "end times" tales entertaining and amusing. Not all stories were great (the anthology has submissions from creators from all over the world), but the mix was strong enough to keep me turning pages and reading the next "dooms day" interpretation. A highly entertaining twist on the 2012 craze.

I got a big bang out of these apocalyptic tales.....especially Robert Heske's "Synchronicity"....

These make a great stocking stuffer for someone you want to jolt with a dose of

Surreality Xmas 2011....on the Eve of Destruction....!!!!!!!!!!!

An anthology offering up a platter of interpretations on the end of days, eh? Well, this should be a positive, uplifting, and generally pleasant read then, shouldn't it?

If the sarcasm didn't ooze from the vents on your CRT or the edges of your flat-screen monitor, it wasn't for lack of trying. Fitting in with the other releases from R. M. Heske's "Heske Horror" label, this is a dark compilation with a few, appropriately bright moments interspersed. Most of these stories are fully rendered in comic form, but there are a few shorter, pure text bits - both simply write-ups on the real weight and meaning of the 2012 phenomenon as well as bits of fiction that, in the case of the story "Head Wounds and Other Ruminations," actually come across more vividly through text than possible via the pen of any artist.

On the visual side, three stories jumped out as worthy of note, those being "Seed Wind, Reap Storms," written by Shawn Gabborin with art by Mario Cau; "Synchronicity," by R. M. Heske with art by Dirk Shearer; and "Harkington," written and illustrated by Duncan Eagleson.

In "Seed Wind..." we're treated to a very short character vignette. I won't go into detail and risk spoiling its reveal, however obvious it may be to someone reading it. It takes the end of days theme and almost gives it a playful edge, odd as it feels to use that word to describe it.

"Synchronicity" only loosely involves the doomsday scenario, opting instead to look at the cyclical nature of life, which is a great turnaround on the theme. It may easily be the most optimistic piece in the book.

In "Harkington," Duncan Eagleson is able to showcase a larger concept, that of the "railwalkers" which he has been working on in novel form for some time (as revealed by a cursory look at his website). If the larger work is half as interesting as this story, I'm eagerly awaiting its publication!

As a whole, this is a very cohesive, if overall very dark, anthology. I'm not sure why the tone of the stories stands out to me as much as it does. To contemplate the end of the world, even if it's just the end of the world "as we know it," is a dark notion. It's not the kind of thing you ruminate on during sunny Saturday afternoons.. Well, usually, anyway...

I suppose I would have personally liked to see more stories on the potential for transformation for the better alongside the more traditional post-apocalyptic treatments of the subject matter. To my mind, it would have made for a more well-rounded book.

All that said, it's a minor quibble. If you're into getting the daylights scared out of you, this will sit happily alongside any compendiums containing tales of nuclear end-games, the zombie apocalypse, or alien invasions.

This tome should be required reading for every Mayan (other people, too)!

Great stories, and you won't want to put it down once you start reading!

This intriguing collection of end times vignettes is well produced. A highly enjoyable diversion from the real-world economic horrors around us!

Artwork: 4.0 out of 5

Wow, this is a nice collection of artists. Each has a unique style that really plays well with the stories of impending doom. I have to say that some of them really had a disturbing touch, while others were more on the realistic side. They all stand out in their own rights. Each artist really did a great job on the consistency of his or her work, as it all reads perfectly to the eye.

Story: 4.0 out of 5

You know it's the psychological horror that gets me every time. I cannot stand to think of what might happen on 2012, if anything, and here I have 20 stories of possible scenarios. This was head trip for me, that is for sure. The stories are broken down into sections, which is a nice touch to break down the mixed themes. I was kinda happy to get to the humor section. Of all the stories the one I have to point out as my favorite, probably because I am a Cubs fan, is Hollow Victory. What an awesome ending.

Dying Breath: 4.0 out of 5

This is a great collection of original stories by some amazing writers and artists. The styles are all so different and yet I am still so freaked out after reading each and every one. You know I say give me some monsters and I will tell you how funny they are, but if you make me think about the world ending, you got me scared. This is an excellent antology that is just fun and hopefully not going to come true, otherwise I am burying my head in the sand.

This one-shot paperback collects several stories centered around the predicted end of the world in 2012, according to the Mayan calendar. Many of the stories depict the apocalypse, but a couple examine its aftermath or what would happen if the date turned out to be all bogus (which it certainly will prove to be). Most tackle the subject seriously, but some are designed to be humorous. The art ranges from awesome to amateurish, but luckily is weighted toward the former. All in all, the end of the world makes for a good time. If you enjoyed the black-and-white horror comic magazines of the '60s and '70s, you should consider this a worthy successor.

While the world might end soon, my enjoyment of my new 2012 book from Robert Heske will never end. I was caught up in the drama from start to finish. The idea of weaving together multiple unique graphic tales, from some of the most talented writers I have come across within this genre, made the entire thing a great read.

If you are going to spend $[...] bucks on the end of the word phenomenon, this is your best bet.

The quality of the drawings is great and the book is very sturdy also - much more like a sturdy paper-back than the old fashioned comic book. I am giving a couple as gifts.

Read this before the world ends! (But definitely read it today - not 2011)