REVIEW: 'Vinyl' #4 by Doug Wagner, Daniel Hillyard, and Dave Stewart

VINYL #4

Writer: Doug Wagner

Artist: Daniel Hillyard, Dave Stewart

Publisher: Image Comics

Release Date: September 22, 2021

Cover Price: $3.99

Walter can't remember who he is, and without him, this serial killer rescue mission is doomed. In other "sunflower death cult news," the Beast and Mother are loose, Guy and Vic brawl against a frenzy of Sunflower Girls, and Rennie has run off to make clothing from human flesh.

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

Panic is setting in among the serial killer rescue squad as Madeleine unleashes her own killers to slow down Walter from saving Dennis. Unfortunately, Walter's loss of memory is getting worse, and without his music, he's lost. Rennie is inconsolable as her side takes some losses and has one thing on her mind - revenge. It's a chaotic hall of horrors filled with blood as the action and conflict ramp up. 

Practical thinking says not to root for the serial killers but even Vic feels sympathetic towards the oddball crew of murderers and she was kidnapped into this. Despite everything including Walter staging this bloody rescue, Dennis awkwardly demands answers from Walter. It's ill-timed in the midst of a blood feud but he's oblivious to what's going on around him. Doug Wagner has written a crazy gory tale but it has plenty of heart in the way there's empathy for these sick and twisted killers who sacrifice themselves, remain loyal to their friends, and find kinship in a world that sees them as only monsters. It's a weird set of emotional beats that come across unexpectedly. This was supposed to be a fun carefree slasher comic, Doug! Why am I feeling feelings?

Daniel Hillyard continues to create clear and crisp designs that Dave Stewart has to fill in with an abundance of red. The pace and composition of the art lend to a dramatic shocking effect needed for a horror story. Yet, his versatility in the quiet moments ground the characters with emotive reactions. There's a lot of wild stuff going on in the story and it seems Hillyard is having as much fun drawing it as we are experiencing it while reading it. 

'Vinyl' #4 puts our heroes(?) in a precarious position as things go from bad to worse. The cult is bearing down on them and Walter's memory is fading. This slasher gore-fest has a heart as well so we can't help but root for Team Serial Killer over Team Flower Cult. Wagner and Hillyard create a dazzling horror comic that makes you jump while making you care for complete psychopaths.