Independent Horror Comic Juniper Falls

by The Horror Czar
(BHM Editor Don Sumner)

Start: 2007
Created by: Rich Robinson and Tim Allison
Written by: Rich Robinson
Illustrated by: Tim Allison
Colored by: Nate Brown
Lettered by: Neil Moore

“Within the past 48 hours, local police have been baffled by several grisly and mysterious murders which have occurred in the town of Juniper Falls. Three women, all reported to be at some stage of pregnancy, have been brutally murdered in what appears to be a “cult-like fashion.” The extreme nature and relative frequency of these killings has the small town on alert, casting a long and dark shadow over the coming summer months.”

Juniper Falls Tribune

Synopsis:

Detective Jack Keaton was a happily married man with a beautiful daughter and a perfect life… Until his job led him on a search for a disturbed man prowling the playgrounds for innocent children. The case consumed Keaton as the number of children missing steadily increased. As Keaton was sure that he was close to solving the case, his own daughter was abducted. Soon afterwards, the murders stopped just as abruptly as they had begun. The killer was never found, and Keaton’s perfect life was shattered into a nightmarish shadow of itself.

For ten long years, Keaton has been haunted by visits from his deceased daughter, reminding him that the nameless murderer is still out there and about to kill again. His hunger grows, and his appetite is never satisfied. He is a new breed, a new kind of murderer. He is the Dark Man.

Without warning a package is left on the doorsteps of Jack Keaton’s run down home. The contents of the package lead him to a place where the murder of his daughter exposes the true horror that lies beyond her disappearance.

This place is the town of Juniper Falls.

For fourteen-year-old Ben Elliot, life couldn’t be more boring. Forced to spend the entire summer in a cast due to a broken ankle, Ben entertains himself by spying on his neighbors. When a stranger moves in next door, Ben and his friend Taylor become insatiably curious. Neither one recalls seeing a moving van in their neighborhood and their imaginations get the best of them. Who is this new addition to the neighborhood, and where did he come from?

Taylor confides in Ben that a strange drifter passing through the town confronted him. Unbeknownst to them, the drifter is Detective Jack Keaton searching for his daughter’s murderer, the Dark Man. Convinced that it’s their civil duty to protect the families in their community, they soon discover that this new neighbor has a secret. One that makes Ben believe his neighbor might be a superhero; a vigilante sent to put a stop to the town’s murders. Through their off beat detective work, Ben and Taylor try to find out the truth behind these two strangers so that they can put an end to the darkness that has befallen their town.

John Smith is a man with a disease, an ache that has led him to slaughter innocent children without a shred of remorse. After murdering a young girl, he is approached by a messenger from an unknown race. This shadowy figure gave Smith an offer that could not be refused. Smith is to spill innocent blood as a penance to hold an ancient evil at bay. If sufficient amounts of innocent blood are not spilled, then the evil will not be satisfied and unleash its forces upon earth, obsessed with exterminating the human race. Smith accepts and becomes the Dark Man, a being that survives by consuming the flesh of the innocent. This negotiation has spawned many cycles of serial killers throughout history.

Forced into this madness with Keaton; Ben, his friends, and his mother Catrine are pushed to the brink of survival. They find themselves trapped in a run down church just out side the borders of Juniper Falls. Ben’s mother is killed in the midst of a fight between Keaton and the Dark Man leaving Ben alone. Ben and Keaton become partners of circumstance, bound to each other by an unknown fate. In the aftermath of the fight the Dark Man lies helplessly at the mercy of Jack Keaton. He confesses that his death will bring forth an evil that this world cannot survive. Keaton, unfazed, dispatches his vengeance upon the Dark Man. From the foreboding shadows the same messenger appears and attempts to place the burden of spilling innocent blood upon Keaton. Not one to be easily persuaded, Keaton declines the offer with six shots from his 357 magnum’s barrel into the messenger’s chest. Showing no signs of injury, this ungodly servant disappears into the shadows. Keaton and the kids start their journey back to Juniper Falls not knowing that evil has taken over, making the small town an epicenter of violence and insanity that is about to spread itself throughout the world.


Thoughts:

Juniper Falls is a well written and well illustrated horror comic . Admittedly I do not read many comics, horror or otherwise (not since the old Superman and Spiderman comics of my youth, that is) so I’m not entirely sure what to compare it to.

First the story, as Juniper Falls seems to be primarily about the story. Although I have only read the first installment, the story is set up well with the characters laid out and fleshed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are characters in Juniper Falls that I care about – I want to know what happens next. Ultimately it makes sense that this should be present in every new comic offering, but I imagine that is easier said than done.

Regarding the visuals, the art in Juniper Falls is not exactly what I expected in a horror comic. In my prior experience the visuals and imagery were a huge part of the comic book experience, but not so much with Juniper Falls. The art is clean and appropriate, but relatively simple and without frills.

Overall Juniper Falls is a good read and has drawn me into the series. Now comes the countdown to when this one will be available retail. Stay tuned at Best-Horror-Movies.com for breaking news on availability.

-The Horror Czar