When the opportunity arose to read, "Jinx Freeze," by comic-maker Lord Hurk, I took it as the comic sounded just plain odd. At first blush, it's a heist story about a golden arm being stolen from a museum. However, a variety of seemingly unconnected vignettes full of weirdness slowly begin to connect in little ways that tell a surreal story encompassing a lucid-dreaming cyborg superhero, a poet riffing on the World, a comic-themed podcaster, private detectives, Youtube streamers, a sci-fi space priest, and more weirdness I haven't even mentioned yet.
One of my favorite comics ever is the most bizarre I ever read--"The Filth." By Grant Morrison with Chris Weston on art and Gary Frank on colors, it too was full of random little diatribes, side stories, and general madness that eventually all combined into a beautifully grotesque and freakish yarn. Hence, when I say a comic reminds me of, "The Filth," in any manner I am paying it one of the highest compliments possible. This is a long-winded way of me saying, "Jinx Freeze," reminded me of, "The Filth," and that is a very good thing. Lord Hurk injects so much outlandish storytelling into this comic (along with a healthy dose of humor that resulted in me laughing out loud a few times) that it goes from confusing, to overwhelming, to a weird place of over-the-top serendipity.
"Jinx Freeze," is as beautiful to look at as it is at times hideous to gaze upon. That sounds like a paradox, but I'm trying to say that Lord Hurk has mastered the comic form in a manner where a couple happily walking down the street into a mysterious exhibit turns into a complex and amazing illustrative work, but it isn't, "Beautiful," because so many characters are ugly, in an extremely detailed and impressively unpleasant way. A detective named Shitplank (I told you the comic was funny) is a large, sweaty, and blatantly unattractive man (and not the best detective either). Even if he's painful to gawk at, you still want to stare as Lord Hurk has drawn everything with the twisted glee of a madman who refuses to let up for one second of this comic.
"Jinx Freeze," does eventually start to make sense as you keep reading it, with almost all the random beats finally synchronizing in a manner that is most impressive (some lingering plot threads beg for a possible sequel). Lord Hurk has created something amazing with his first full-length original graphic novel. I thank Avery Hill Publishing for having me on their press list so that I was able to read a copy in advance of its release this 12th of October. I would strongly encourage you to preorder a copy so you can read it for yourself!
5 out of 5 stars.
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