Iris Complex
Review
Writer: Josh Tierney
Artist: Caitlin Soliman, Cassio Ribeiro
Publisher: Webtoon
Format: Webtoon
With incredible writing by Eisner Award-nominated writer Josh Tierney and art by Caitlin Soliman and Cassio Ribeiro, this creepy tale will have readers’ hearts racing with a storyline filled with suspense and bloody corpses set in a dystopian fantasy world. This webtoon is the perfect series for a thrilling read.
Iris Complex
ReviewWriter: Josh Tierney
Artist: Caitlin Soliman, Cassio Ribeiro
Publisher: Webtoon
Format: Webtoon
With incredible writing by Eisner Award-nominated writer Josh Tierney and art by Caitlin Soliman and Cassio Ribeiro, this creepy tale will have readers’ hearts racing with a storyline filled with suspense and bloody corpses set in a dystopian fantasy world. This webtoon is the perfect series for a thrilling read.
As you may know from my previous reviews, I am not a huge horror fan. I am mentally unfit to handle dark tales of the ghostly supernatural. The paranoia from following such intense storylines would haunt me. Yet, sometimes I find myself drawn into one or two webtoons under the genre if the mood is just right. In the case of Iris Complex, something about the CANVAS webtoon captivated me despite my usual reluctance to read anything remotely scary. Perhaps the webtoon’s mysterious cover art had me curious to learn what it was about. But once I started reading, there was no turning back—Iris Complex simply hooked me in. So, read on to discover a whole new world in this CANVAS webtoon and my thoughts on it!
Overview
Things don’t appear how they may seem at first glance, especially for Iris who suddenly wakes up with no memory of who she is or how she got to be in the middle of a dead field. Surrounded by five enigmatic buildings with nothing but a bag containing random items like a test sheet with her name on it and a mysterious set of keys, the young woman sets out to find clues to her identity. But will she find her missing memories? Or will she remain lost forever?
Image: Webtoon
Review
Iris Complex has a clever way of keeping readers engaged through its intricate plot and use of an unreliable narrator. Writer Josh Tierney does a great job of crafting suspenseful events that keep readers on their toes. The eerie vibe of Iris Complex got me very nervous while reading the first few episodes, as the story feels like a long nightmare that gets more lucid with each episode. While it can get confusing at times, the overall narrative has plenty of intrigue and depth, making it a very captivating webtoon to read. So even though the story is so horrific and unsettling, I ended each episode wanting to learn more about what’s going on with Iris and the strange world she woke up in.
What drew me into Iris Complex is how it blends both supernatural and psychological horror elements into one compelling narrative. While I usually get stressed out from such emotional and unnerving stories, I was gripped by how well-crafted and thought-provoking everything about this webtoon was. I was fascinated by Iris’ struggles to find her identity as her sense of reality slowly slipped away and the world got progressively creepier. Personally, I’d love to see the series be turned into an animated short series one day. Scenes throughout the series are so dynamic in their presentation, that it’s easy to imagine how it would play out in animation. As you scroll down panels, the creative sound effects and shifting narrative perspective of the story help readers fully visualize the dramatic tension that unfolds. The story effortlessly pulls you in from the star and you’ll simply want to binge all the available episodes.
Image: WebtoonArtists Caitlin Soliman and Cassio Ribeiro have done an incredible job of visually bringing the story to life. The wonderful art emphasizes this sense of psychological horror along with the supernatural. For example, the contrasting colors and shadows create an ominous and unsettling vibe to the story. I’m no artist but I feel the color theory is spot on in this webtoon. The striking color details throughout Iris Complex are even used to mess with your mind and emotions as you read. Artistic details like font and speech bubbles will often change in creative ways to add a sense of disorder to the story’s already creepy atmosphere. Then with how illustrations are drawn and split frame by frame, the flow of the visuals feels cinematic as if they are popping out of the screen.
Image: Webtoon
Final Thoughts
What has surprised me the most about Iris Complex is not how well the writing or art is, but how underrated the comic is. While it used to be a Tapas Original webcomic, it is now independently published on WEBTOON CANVAS. It baffles me how there aren’t more readers subscribed to this phenomenal webtoon. It's got everything to make it outstanding, from an original plot and skillful execution of Webtoon’s framework to a polished art style and prose. Overall, it is a thrilling read and I am excited for new episodes to release. Iris Complex is a webtoon people need to add to their reading list.
Who this is for
- Fans of supernatural horror.
- People who enjoy suspense and theorizing plot points.
- People who like a more Western art style.
Who this is not for
- Readers who prefer fast-paced stories.
- People who dislike mystery and suspense.
- People who dislike violence, blood, and gore.