DEAD MEN’S LAUGHTER #1 / Script by WILL O’MULLANE / Art and Colors by MARCO PERUGINI / Letters by JONATAHAN STEVENSON

Years ago, Harry and Russell were best friends. Until a crime of opportunity, born of booze and bravado, drove them apart. It also made them rich. Rich enough to part ways and build new lives for themselves elsewhere. But now the bill is due and someone is out to make them pay…

Dead Men’s Laughter is a bit hard to quantify. It is a crime comic, but with a supernatural edge that might be off-putting to those expecting something like Get Carter or Snatch. Is it a horror story? Yes, but it isn’t a simple slasher. There’s a bit of body horror too, to further muddle things.

The one thing I can say unequivocally is that Dead Men’s Laughter is good. What makes it hard to define also makes it accessible to a variety of genre fiction enthusiasts. Will O’Mullane spins a banger of a tale here, and the artwork by Heavy Metal’s Marco Perugini is dark and disturbing. If you enjoy thrillers of any kind, you would do well to contribute to the already-funded Kickstarter and give this one a look-see.