Death Head #1

By Zack Keller, Nick Keller, Joanna Estep, Kelly Fitzpatrick

“Shadowcliff National Park has the highest population of Death’s-Head Hawkmoths in the Uniter States. Seen any yet?”

“What do they look like?”

“Like my nightmares.”

A typical walk in the woods kicks off the first issue of the horror comic Death Head by creators Zack and Nick Keller, but if you’ve seen any horror movies before then you know… stay away from the woods!

Zack and Nick Keller present a new horror story as three different plots are interwoven to give differing variations on this killer entity known as Death Head. One of the main stories gives the same vibe as Jeepers Creepers, where a mysterious figure shows up to find a couple leaving his hideout. The other plots revolve around a little boy being bullied, and a couple of schoolgirls who are into taking shrooms and skipping class.

The back and forth banter of the couple that kicks off the story creates for some funny lines as they try to figure out what they’ve stumbled upon during their trip in the woods – it’s an old-looking town they at first think might be a reenactment town for visitors. It’s with these two that we get most of the drama/suspense from. This town clearly isn’t meant for visitors…

The artwork in this issue is done by Joanna Estep along with colorist Kelly Fitzpatrick. The shrooms scenes featuring the two schoolgirls gets pretty trippy as classmates turn from nice students to demons and the panels twist and turn to present the mesmerizing daze. The room goes from average colors to bright yellow and orange as one of the girls counts down until the shrooms are going to kick in.

Another great scene shows some of the Death Head Hawkmoths going wild as the couple enters an old church. The husband picks up a dagger thinking it to be a prop and drops it onto the ground. The loud noise sets off all the moths that were covering the ceiling and causes the couple to run around in a panic and get lost within the church. A great panel with this scene shows the moths funneling out of the windows of the church by the thousands — just imagine the smell!

Zack and Nick Keller along with Joanna Estep and Kelly Fitzpatrick create a new horror story with interwoven alternate story lines. What’s the origin of this new horror figure? If you run endlessly in the woods will he somehow appear at the cabin before you when he was clearly walking the whole time?

Death Head #1 is a great homage to classic horror movies while creating a new and frightening entity to rule your nightmares!