Blood Between the Panels – CROSSED
Crossed #1-5
Avatar Press
Written by Garth Ennis
Art by Jacen Burrows
Review by: Bryce Holland
If there’s two facets of the horror genre I love more than anything, it’s apocalyptic “infection” stories, like 28 Days Later or Night of the Living Dead, and gore, copious amounts of gore. Something about these two things have always struck a chord with. I love “infection” stories, be it of the zombie variety or otherwise, mostly because of the inherent sense of nihilism and hopelessness that they portray. For me, there’s little else more horrifying. As for gore…well…I’m a horror fan. What horror fan doesn’t like a good smattering of blood and guts with a tale of terror? If, like me, any kind of combination of these two things really gets you going, then Crossed may be just up your alley.
Crossed is a fairly straightforward post-apocalyptic, infection-destroys-the-world-and-people-start-going-batshit-crazy story. It’s never made entirely clear, but apparently some kind of horrible accident unleashes a mysterious plague across the globe. As you’d expect, this plague causes the infected to go all kinds of crazy, attacking innocent bystanders and spreading their disease, but the plague in this book is where this story finds part of its unique voice. Unlike the rage-infected crazies of the 28 Days Later franchise and all its derivatives, or the walking corpses of every zombie story ever written, the plague in Crossed has the nasty habit of turning its victims into crazed serial killer/rapists that commit some of the most shocking and disturbing atrocities ever committed to the page, all while bearing a bloody cross-shaped scar across their face. The basic story-line follows a small band of survivors as they make their way across the country to the potential safety of the Alaskan wilderness. Along the way the group swells and shrinks as survivors join, get infected, commit suicide, or are just horribly killed off. All the while, this fluctuating group must learn to adapt to a new life where they are constantly being hunted and stalked.
Now, don’t let that little description sell this story short. It may seem like a run-of-the-mill rip off of a Romero film, but this is a pretty deep narrative, with a unique story structure. Writer Garth Ennis, famous for his seminal Preacher series and the ultra-violent The Boys, fills the series with his usual brand of over-the-top humor, and much like Preacher he injects Crossed with some very searing and insightful commentary on world politics and culture. Notably, Ennis eschews a heavy continuity and back-story in favor of crafting each issue so that they stand just as well by themselves as they do as a complete series. It’s refreshing, considering Crossed usually has a pretty small print run and some of the issues can be hard to find now. The true selling point of this series, however, is obviously the violence and brutality. As one would expect from the writer of the most blood soaked run of The Punisher ever, Ennis infuses this series with some of the most violent moments ever committed to paper (I even struggle to think of any movies that approach the level of savagery in Crossed). While the violence runs rampant throughout this narrative, though, Ennis is not above including some moments of real humanity that really help you care about the plight of the 
characters. For example, issue 5 doesn’t contain a single drop of blood or even the slightest act of violence. It’s a welcome respite in the midst of what may be Ennis’s most untamed series to date.
Complementing the impeccable writing is artist Jacen Burrows. For my money, Burrows is one of the best pencillers working today. His style has a fluidity to it that makes it very versatile, and he has a way of really differentiating characters. Many artists working on books with large, constantly changing, ensemble casts often fall into the habit of making all of their characters look pretty similar. Burrows’ deft renderings really help you care about the cast as you are able to easily distinguish each individual. Much like with with Ennis, though, his real talent lies in his ability to draw some of the most shocking and disturbing scenes of the violence one could possibly imagine. Seriously, Burrows may have one of the most depraved imaginations ever. Decapitations, disembowelments, disfigured bodies and faces; Burrows draws them all in a way that hits you hard every time you view them. Check out his double page splash in the first issue to see what I mean. It will haunt you for 
days.
I’m a huge fan of gory, nihilistic stories, and over the years I have become a bit numb to depictions of bloodshed and carnage, but I must admit that this book shocks me page after page. This is a series that doesn’t try to hide its influences, but embraces them and updates them for modern, desensitized sensibilities. This is a book not for the faint of heart, but if you want to experience one of the most vicious, bloody, and ultimately human stories to come out in quite a while, give Crossed a try.
