I’ve tried to read Rich Tommaso’s comics many times – the art is appealing, the concepts intriguing – and yet I’ve failed each time. This time though I made myself read the whole book to find out whether he just started badly and got better or whether he was simply another bad writer who could draw. You’ve seen my rating – it’s the latter!
A single mom visits her mother in Florida and finds that the neighbours are a queer bunch. Is she losing her mind or are they really out to get her?
The premise is compelling – weird neighbours, night stalker, new oddball friend – but Tommaso barely takes it anywhere. I was hooked and curious to see how it would play out – especially as I’m a sucker for horror – but what a let-down. The protagonist freaks out and… that’s it?
The bonus stories make the main story more understandable but there’s literally nothing in the main story to suggest anything like the big reveal at the end. The schlocky bonus stories also undermine the creepier existential dread of the main story, rendering it cheesy and dumb – Goosebumps-level storytelling.
I really like Tommaso’s Herge-esque art and it by turns reminded me of some of my favourite indie creators like Dan Clowes, Richard Sala, Charles Burns, Gilbert Hernandez, Peter Bagge and David Hine – it’s just a shame he’s nowhere near as good a writer as any of them!
Despite fine art, the writing and storytelling is inescapably bad - The Horror of Collier County is a horribly boring comic.
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