“SAND & FURY: A SCREAM QUEEN ADVENTURE” (Graphic Novel Review)

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Originally published at Fangoria.com on March 28, 2010

SAND & FURY: A SCREAM QUEEN ADVENTURE is an erotic thriller riddled with flashbacks and hallucinations. Author Ho Che Anderson has fabricated a stylish, minimalist narrative about sex, blood and death.

The story opens with a lonesome girl, Avril, lost in the middle of nowhere. Avril has spent most of the day working two jobs, earning money to pay for her tuition. What this college student didn’t need is for her engine to break down on the side of an empty road. Suddenly, a helpful stranger arrives in a fancy car to rescue her. Avril’s problems just seem to mount as she accepts a ride from what turns out to be an angel of death.

This female spirit warns others of impending doom, screaming at the top of her lungs. Avril sees her future self studying in New York, fulfilling her lifelong dreams. But is this spirit guide taking Avril directly to her death, or saving her soul? Or is this person in the driver’s seat actually just a depressed woman suffering from amnesia?

The supernatural tale twists and turns as she searches for clues in an attempt to remember her name. In her past life, she might have been a femme fatale who broke the heart of anyone who cared about her. News reports around her describe the desert of the American southwest as a vast playground for a serial killer. Could this enigmatic woman have been one of the murderer’s intended victims? Or could she be imagining the slayer to disguise her suicidal tendencies?

The narrative is divided into three lengthy chapters. You may want to reread certain passages—not just to fully comprehend the plotline, but to gaze upon the stark, raw artwork. Each panel is made up of striking black-and-white images that notably recall Richard Sala’s vibrant illustrations and Frank Miller’s artwork in the SIN CITY series. Only during acts of unflinching violence does the page becomes flushed with red.

Ho Che Anderson has written and drawn a puzzling, dark tale about a mysterious woman with alluring secrets. SAND & FURY: A SCREAM QUEEN ADVENTURE is a complex tale that uniquely blends eroticism and horror. You can order it at the official website of publisher Fantagraphics.