First published back in November of 1992, issue twenty-one of Epic Comics’ serial adaptation of Clive Barker’s ‘Nightbreed’ sported the subtitle ‘The Mad God Baphomet: Part One’.
The first four issues of the ‘Nightbreed’ comics closely followed the storyline of the film, only slightly veering away from it with minor details. The twenty-one issues that followed continued on with the Nightbreed legacy – creating whole new spin-off storylines that would eventually bring in aspects from some of Barker’s other work.
This issue formed the first part in the ‘The Mad God Baphomet’ two-part mini-series.
DLS Synopsis:
His name was Ozymandias, first of the lost saviours of the Nightbreed. Six-thousand years ago Baphomet and Ozymandias showed the Nightbreed the way. Taught them how to survive. How to live alongside the naturals.
But Ozymandias betrayed Baphomet. Turning his back on the laws set out by their god. Killing naturals without thought for the repercussions.
Now, all these years later, and Ozymandias has returned. Infiltrated Lori’s dreams. Shown her the terror he will bring. The undoubted downfall of the breed.
They must stop Ozymandias and his high priest – Kushnir Day. Together, Lori, Peloquin and Kinski must work together and find a way to stop the blasphemous actions of this lunatic god. Before it’s too late for them all…
DLS Review:
Author and Actor Nicholas Vince (the very same man played the Chatterer Cenobite in the Hellraiser films) steps up to write this two-part Nightbreed mini-series.
In essence what we have here is a comic which pretty much has the sole aim of thickening out the Nightbreed lore…adding more depth to the backstory, more details to the evolution of the breed, and indeed their leader and god – Baphomet.
To be honest, it’s a slightly perplexing read, with the storyline delivered in a muddled heap of suggestions, without really resolving any of the pathways that the author is attempting to take the tale down.
A meagre squabble between Peloquin and Kinski takes us through a couple of seemingly unnecessary pages, with one of the swiftest resolutions cast to paper. Baphomet himself is becoming a strange amalgamation of characters, with his role in the unfolding story less understood and perhaps pushed more towards a lunatic’s backdrop for the piece. Indeed, his attempted rape of Shuna Sassi in a nearby cave is oddly played down as a “oh silly me, that’s one of my odd personalities coming out there!” kind of vibe.
Furthermore, throwing the story back in time to that of Ancient Egypt, where Ozymandias tries to lock Baphomet away in a vast pyramid, is an intriguing new avenue for the Nightbreed mythos to explore. However, once again it all feels a little haphazard and underdeveloped for such a grandiose suggestion of a backstory.
Ultimately, I found this instalment to be somewhat of a disappointment. Which is a shame as we edge closer and closer to the ending of the comic series. Fingers crossed for a return to form in the next few instalments…
The comic runs for a total of 28 pages (plus an additional page for the usual ‘Breeding Ground’ readers’ letters).
© DLS Reviews
