The Belfry: Instinctual Fear of Uncontrolled Evolution

The Belfry begins with an airliner crashing into the middle of a remote jungle. Those few passengers who walk away unscathed soon meet a mysterious and sinister evolutionary change that has occurred there. Change is inevitable and will capture both the deserving and the innocent within its horrifying maw. Do not exhaust yourself with efforts of self-preservation, for there is no running from the beautiful, brutal world of the Belfry.

The Belfry, created by Gabriel Hardman (co-writer/artist of Invisible Republic & writer/artist of Kinski) and published by Image Comics, was released back in February 2017. It is a self-contained one-shot that combines selective color schemes, dark, detailed imagery, and minor dialogue to immerse the reader in its truly horrifying jungle world. It utilizes psychological horror, relying heavily on its dark color palettes and panel layouts to pull the reader deep into the situation and plunge them into the story. It is a welcome reprieve from the blood-and-guts shock value tendencies of the genre.

True fear here comes Irving.

At first glance, the art seems almost simplistic in nature; however, as you look closer, you start to notice every contextual detail that your eyes initially missed. This lends itself largely to the narrative of the story. The darkened and simplistic color scheme is also incredibly well thought out. It sets the tone of the environment and lends strong emphasis to the more active sequences of the story. In combination, the narrative and color palette stirs up that fear of not knowing what lies in the dark and the curiosity that follows. Overall Hardman does an outstanding job by bringing all aspects of the comic style narrative together to weave a story that truly feels as if you are watching a horror movie play out before you.

The story is also multilayered, tackling the age-old change that every human fears, the change from life to death, and how evolutionary aspects can play an intrinsic role in all of it. Readers are transplanted into a desolate place where they are faced with a reality most humans find instinctual fear in, and that is the line between human and humanoid. Hardman immediately places the reader in a situation few would wish to wind up in and even fewer would know how to get out of. He sets the stage quick and continually escalates the pace from there.

All-in-all Gabriel Hardman's The Belfry weaves a horror tale worth retelling again and again. It grips the reader's attention and keeps it there as it dives deep into the dark, unknown world of uncontrolled biological forces. I highly encourage all to check out The Belfry during this Halloween season.