Publisher: IDW Publishing
Writer: Joe Hill
Artist: Charles P. Wilson III
Release Date: 26th March 2014

After being subjected to a bit of light butchery by the Christmasland children, the three escaped convicts have scattered. Chess and Agnes are laying low (or high) on the ferris wheel, the pervert Mr Hansom is minus a limb and running around in the snow while the delightfully crazy King Geek is presumably in line to buy an all-day wrist band for the rides. The monstrous children are on the hunt carrying scissors and swords and razor sharp teeth. Time to leave!

The hellish art shows the nightmare in all its glory; managing to be both grotesque and darkly funny at the same time. It’ll give you a wicked grin. The theme park is an awesome setting for such a massacre with snowmen, merry-go-rounds and one creepy bastard of a moon. There are some stand out pages and even an imaginative panel bordered by bloody scissor blades. Brutal stuff.

This issue lacks the suspense of the journey into Christmasland and the manic action of their arrival. There are no snowballs being hurled at Manx. Instead, we focus on a relationship being formed by Chess and Agnes. Having the three convicts scattered across Christmasland means a lot of the patter is missing from previous issues. It’s still a compelling and twisted ride regardless and the ending is pretty remarkable…

Rating: 4/5.

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The writer of this piece was: James McQueen
You can also find James on Twitter.