Blink
Review
Writer: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Publisher: ONI Press
Release Date: May 15, 2023
Page Count: 128
Format: Comic
Blink pulls you into a unique sci-fi horror story that gets more complex the deeper you dive into its strange and psychedelic world.
Blink
ReviewWriter: Christopher Sebela
Artist: Hayden Sherman
Publisher: ONI Press
Release Date: May 15, 2023
Page Count: 128
Format: Comic
Blink pulls you into a unique sci-fi horror story that gets more complex the deeper you dive into its strange and psychedelic world.
The beauty I always find when reading creator-owned comics is that I'll never know what new story I’ll stumble into next. Having never read anything by Christopher Sebela before, I came into reading Blink with little to no expectations about the comic book. The stellar cover work by artist Hayden Sherman drew me into reading the book. With its bright neon colors and cyberpunk aesthetic, I was expecting to dive into an intriguing sci-fi adventure. What I got was a horror story more disturbing than I could have expected. The opening pages of the first issue set the tone, and I knew quickly that Blink was going to explore a very unique kind of horror. In just five issues, this comic took me on one hell of a trippy ride.
Image: ONI PressLife Changes in a Blink
The hero of the story is freelance writer Wren Booker. When she was a young girl, Wren was found by police in the middle of the street and covered in blood. She spent the rest of her life trying to piece together what happened in her traumatic childhood. She could only vaguely remember strange-looking TV screens and her parents screaming in terror. Even though she grew up to have a good job and a loving relationship, Wren was forever haunted by the ghosts of her past.
Everything changed for Wren when a friend linked her to a website called Blink. It was filled with cryptic imagery that looked eerily similar to what she remembered from her childhood. Seeing that website for only a brief moment before it went down was enough to trigger something inside her. In just the blink of an eye, more memories came flooding back. From there, Wren took that as her chance to finally find out what happened to her family. After digging through all the information she could find online, she found an address. But what’s waiting for her at that place is something much stranger than Wren, or me as the reader, could have ever expected.
Image: ONI PressInto the Rabbit Hole
The progression of the story is an oddity. Much like Wren’s descent into the building, the story gets stranger the deeper it progresses. What looks like another horror story on the outside turns into a maze of mystery that explores the concept of existential dread in a digital world. The monsters Wren discovers upon entering the building are the least of her problems. Not only does she learn the dark truth about her family, but also the inner workings of the world itself. By the end, the story goes full throttle on monologues about digital existentialism. While the concepts paint a very bleak and terrifying world, the delivery of it all within the story feels hard to digest. Remember, this miniseries was only five issues long. So, just like Wren at the tragic end of the story, you’re left with plenty to decipher about how it all went wrong.
While the story of Blink takes a much darker turn than I had initially expected, the incredible art by Hayden Sherman is a consistent bright spot throughout the comic book. What instantly stands out is his creative paneling. There are spreads in the comic where panels are twisting and turning within a single page, disorienting the speech bubbles along with them. While these crazy spreads can be a bit confusing to read through, the chaotic creativity in the art of each page effectively depicts a world that feels like reality itself is bursting at the seams. The art really kicks into gear when the story goes deeper into the world of Blink, presenting you with horrific monsters and set pieces that look like a mix of The Matrix and Hellraiser.
Image: ONI PressFinal thoughts
As confusing and long-winded as I found some of Blink’s story elements to be, it was clear that the creators Christopher Sebela and Hayden Sherman sought to tell a unique and disturbing horror story. It reminds me of why creator-owned comics are so compelling to explore. Not every story needs to have a happy and conclusive ending or some grand moral takeaway. The bleakness of the ending is only amplified by the fact that there’s no more continuation to Wren’s story. Once you turn that final page, Blink leaves you to interpret its ending however way you want. It’s unique having a coming book wash you with a sense of dread after reading its big finale. That experience in itself is something you can only really find from reading creator-owned comics.