Comic Book Review Basilisk 11

8
Rating
Published On:2022-09-07
Published by: Boom Studios
Author:Cullen Bunn
Artist:Jonas Scharf
Colorist:Alex Guimarães
Letterer:Ed Dukeshire

The Truth of the Chimera Revealed

Comic book review written on September 25, 2022

In This Issue of

What Else Happens in this Comic?

Since the very beginning, Basilisk has had two types of artwork — a painted style and a drawn style.  This issue the painted style takes the pole position as we learn what happened when the Chimera’s chosen first entered the path.  Regan and Vanessa share thoughts about what’s to come.  Vanessa cuts lose with the Chimera’s power. Hannah weighs Barret and finds he’s as mad as they come.

Basilisk 11 P 3
Basilisk 11 P 3

How is the Writing in ??

The Dialogue

Cullen Bunn has been a master at giving us just enough details about the Chimera to maintain the mystery of the creature. Even with this issue’s reveal of the Chimera backstory, there’s still a bit of mystery left. I’m hopeful we’ll see the last totem open revealing the monster inside.

Showing Versus Telling

Cullen Bunn has been a master at giving us just enough details about the Chimera to maintain the mystery of the creature. Even with this issue’s reveal of the Chimera backstory, there’s still a bit of mystery left. I’m hopeful we’ll see the last totem open revealing the monster inside.

The Vibe

‘Pure horror movie’ best describes this issue. When the Chimera’s chosen survive the encounter with powers intact, it is a horror fans favorite nightmare. Seeing Vanessa cut loose gives us the five-senses horror elements this series is known for.

Comic Art Review

Jonas Scharf has always been a pull for Basilisk.  He’s a power-house artist. Basilisk #11 gives him a lot of material to work with from talking heads in a restaurant to Vanessa letting loose with the Chimera power at the camp.  The Chimera path and totems are alien.  One of my favorite visual motifs is the swirls that appear whenever Vanessa uses her power.

Alex Guimaraes uses color to help us navigate from scene to scene.  Vanessa is in greys.  Regan is all blues (like her sight power). Hannah and Barret are in yellows at the restaurant. As we get to the restaurant and our storylines converge, we get a merging of the colors. The lights of the restaurant mingling with the blues of the night to create green.  Vanessa using all of the Chimera’s powers blending green, yellow, grey and blue.

On the Cover

Jonas Scharf drew the primary cover featuring Barret and the faithful. We still don’t know his angle in this story and it’s not always in the favor of the Chimera’s chosen.

Our secondary cover is by Ryan Sook. It’s a close-up of Vanessa with her scarred face and white eye. This is the third cover by Sook, and all of them have been fantastic.

World Building

Locations

  • The Chimera Camp
  • A restaurant

Who's Who

- The Chimera's Chosen (in flashback)
- Vanessa
- Regan
- Barret
- Hannah
- Chimera Camp staff and clones

Big Question

What's in the remaining totem? What happened to the other creatures in the totems?

He's mad, of course. As much a victim as he is a monster.

Hannah about Barret

Who Will Like

In addition to the standard horror elements, Basilisk #11 gives us an alien world on Chimera path. It’s a touch of science fiction and enough to grab fans of sci-fi horror.

I Need More Content like

Check out Jonas Scharf on Instagram account.

Should You Buy This Comic Book?

This was talking-heads issue. We needed it to fill in some of the details about the Chimera. The show-down between Vanessa and Regan is coming. Buy this issue to learn what you need moving to the end of the series.

Official Website
Boom Studios, Horror, Basilisk