richardsala:

Two new (very kind) reviews of my 2011 book THE HIDDEN were posted this month ~

Richard Sala’s The Hidden | Skulls in the Stars

Sample:

The Hidden carries significant punch to it, and the depictions of the apocalypse and the struggles of the survivors are both shockingly graphic and effective.  The character development is quite good for a graphic novel that mostly involves a handful of survivors wandering through a desolate wasteland!

The final act is a nearly perfect one, and the explanation of armageddon was both surprising and satisfying to me.  The origin of the monsters plaguing the world is a refreshing change from the now tedious (to me) hordes of zombies that populate the bookshelves.

I Reads You: I Reads You Review: THE HIDDEN

Sample:

I tore through The Hidden, flipping pages as if I were reading the latest potboiler, suspense thriller on the prose bestsellers’ list. I couldn’t wait to get to the next shocking and thrilling revelation.

The Hidden is jarring because of the action taken by the characters, both the leading actors and the bit players. Much of Sala’s work has a playful gothic aesthetic, similar to the mischievous macabre of Charles Addams and the lighthearted ghoulishness of Tim Burton. Sala goes past Addams and Burton. His comics contain moments in which the capricious nature of life and the seeming fickleness of existence delivers cruelty. This does not always appear as physical violence; sometimes, the result is a spiritual wound or a gash on the psyche. In The Hidden, the characters don’t do “playful gothic aesthetic.”

Thanks very much to both reviewers!