Pixu: The Mark of Evil
Written and Illustrated by Gabriel Ba, Becky Cloonan, Vasilis Lolos, Fabio Moon
Dark Horse Comics
September 9, 2015
Reviewed by Elaine Pascale
Award-winning artists collaborated on Pixu, the story of haunted apartment dwellers. The images throughout the story depict a dark mark in the building: a mark of evil that spreads, causing violence and insanity.
The artwork is meant to carry Pixu, and largely, it does. The four artists are fantastic and their black and white drawings blend well and give Pixu a solitary feel. The book is largely a showcase for the art, which is very frightening and contains staples of the horror genre. Pixu begins with a visual feeling of dread, which blossoms into nightmarish and terrifying images.
While the artwork is impressive, the story is vague. I know that one picture is worth a thousand words, but the individual panels leave gaps in the narrative. There were characters that I really could not get a handle on, even after additional readings. That might be because the main character is the “mark of evil,” but even that dark mark is largely undefined. Pixu contains a wealth of creepy stuff, I simply wanted it to be more cohesive.
I also wanted more of a backstory. For example, is the landlord aware of the mark and is he using it in some nefarious way? Each individual apartment’s story begins in media res; perhaps the clues were too vague for me to craft a plot from the images and very sparse text.
Pixu is an adult only graphic novel. There are disturbing visuals, as well as a story line that suggests child molestation and pedophilia. If you enjoy a minimalistic plot that is open to many interpretations, then Pixu is a good match for you. Likewise, if you are a fan of any of the four artists, you will not be disappointed.
