Crossed #7

Yeesh. Garth Ennis' post-apocalyptic book rolls on, and while it is as upsetting as always, this is actually a little less perverted than it has been.

The whittled-down group has weathered the winter and crossed a desert in search of finding a sanctuary from the Crossed maniacs. The problem is, the last group of Crossed that swore to chase them has tracked them across the desert and is still on their trail. The mindless maniacs are showing even more cunning. Even worse, now they seem to be holding grudges. I'm having a hard time remembering exactly what happened last issue, since I think it has been awhile, but I do recognize the two leaders of the gang of Crossed. They eventually catch our survivors as they attempt to cross a river, and the Crossed open fire on the group, splitting them up. Most of the group meets back up, except for the young boy of the party. When they get to him, he's been infected and after spouting some profanity, he's put out of his misery by his mother. She doesn't pause at all, just shoots her kid in the head. It would be an awful choice, but Ennis deftly avoids the horror-movie cliche that a parent can't do what is necessary to free their kid. It's an awful scene, made worse in that the mother is cold about it. It is the rest of the party that is in shock and upset.

Jacen Burrows is a good storyteller in addition to having a penchant for gore. Burrows is able to focus on just gore here. I'm not sure that the core scene of the book needed as much focus though. I think showing the kid's head blowing apart is a little much, and the message might have been just as clear cutting that out. But heck, I don't think people reading Crossed are trying to avoid brain splatter.

Good