Golgotha

Golgotha
Published by 215Ink
130 Pages B&W
Written by Andrew Harrison
Illustrated by Karl Slominski

I've been away from blogging for almost two years and I came across the chance to do a review on Facebook for 215Ink's new horror graphic novel Golgotha and I decided to take it.

Golgotha, defined as a place of burial, takes place in Providence, Rhode Island in and around the grave site of legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. The plot, what happens when a junkie and his friends find out that the skull of H.P. Lovecraft has been stolen and holds untold powers?


When I got the .pdf of this book I really had no idea what to expect from it or if I would like it or not but I decided that I was going to take a chance on it and read it completely. I opened up iTunes and quickly decided that my theme music for this comic would be the band A.F.I. and then I scrolled through the pages. The first thing I noticed was the art it was heavy on the inks, it was often frantic, it was definitely indie and I loved it . . . and then there were pages that were more painted and sepia toned which were beautiful (I found out later that these pages were used as flash back sequences to past events). The writing was fast paced and flowed well throughout the book and the characters all felt like people you might know in your own life . . . of course you might not want to know them. Their are lots of great character names throughout the story (my favorite being Johnny Orangepeel) giving it a sense of real street credibility to the cast.

So what is this book about? A group of junkie friends always looking for the next high living in the town where H.P. Lovecraft is from and buried find out his skull has been stolen. The main character (Aleister Bloom) is an artist and huge Lovecraft fan after being sentenced to rehab escapes to retrieve the skull and return it to it's rightful place. Along the way he crosses paths with drug dealers, more junkies, a Brazilian Vampire rock band, and a group of worshipers of Cthulhu and the old gods and they may be zombies (I think) . . . or could they just live in the imaginations of Aleister. The skull offers strange powers to those in contact with it causing more trouble than good.

I am really selective about books focused around drug use because they often don't do much for story and are just glorifying a lifestyle that I don't agree with. The theme however does seem to work well for the story and will leave you wondering what parts of it really happened and what is in the drug induced imagination of the characters.

Golgotha is not a book for everyone, it has lots of strong language and a bit of nudity (so keep it away from the young kids) but if you are into horror comics and what goes on in the minds of a group of junkie friends this comic is for you. I do recommend that you take a chance on this graphic novel if you are a fan its specific genre or are open to many different kinds of comic books and different but good artwork.

I could not find a retail price for this book or the date it will be released but it will be solicited in the April, 2013 issue of Previews magazine and I'm sure if you contact your local comic book retailer you will be able to get the book when it come out.

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Can't find a book in your local comic book store head on over to 215Ink's website and order directly from the publisher by clicking here: 215Ink website

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Thank you for reading,
Kevin P. Johnson

Copyright © 2013 Kevin P. Johnson
Images are copyright © 2013 215Ink are used as Fair Use Review images only. Images will be removed upon the request of 215Ink.