REVIEW: 'Invasive' #1 by Cullen Bunn, Jesus Hervas, and Dan Jackson

INVASIVE #1

Writer: Cullen Bunn

Artist: Jesus Hervas, Dan Jackson

Letters: Taylor Esposito

Publisher: Oni Press

Release Date: December 6, 2023

Cover Price: $4.99

Beyond excess, beyond ethics, beyond science . . . Enter a terrifying new experiment in pain from Eisner Award nominee Cullen Bunn (The Sixth Gun, Basilisk) and acclaimed illustrator Jesus Hervás (The Empty Man)! Dr. Carrie Reynolds was a veteran trauma surgeon with a godlike mastery of muscle and bone. But outside the operating room, her rigidly ordered life spiraled into chaos when her daughter, Heather-a recovering plastic surgery addict-suddenly disappeared, only to mysteriously reemerge in a catatonic state, her vocal cords removed . . . the latest in a series of victims scarred by a battery of brazenly cruel medical procedures that have baffled police and left an alarming number of once-ordinary citizens maimed, mutilated, or dead on arrival. Deep beneath the streets of Carrie's city, a new kind of underground hospital has just opened its doors . . . and, once inside, there are no rules, no oaths, and no taboos too deep not to be broken. A new class of surgeon has sworn to pierce the final threshold of accepted medical orthodoxy one incision at a time. The scalpel is their tool. The alleys are their operating theater. Murder is their medicine. And only Carrie can stop what they're planning next . . . 

Score:

★★★★☆ (4/5)

Creepy, disturbing, suspenseful, and hard-to-look-at all describe Cullen Bunn's newest horror title, 'Invasive' and I'm sure Bunn wouldn't want it any other way. This body horror series from Oni Press takes a more sinister twist on a real-life issue, plastic surgery addiction. If anyone has watched 'Botched,' some people can't get enough surgical procedures to try and "fix" some perceived imperfection. Countless botched surgeries have to be corrected. The result is a ravaged body and an unhealthy mental disposition. But what if an underground surgeon exploited these people's insecurities or just flat-out kidnapped victims to experiment on or even kill them? That's the premise of 'Invasive.'

The mother of one of the victims whose daughter remains catatonic after her vocal cords were removed, Dr. Carrie Reynolds holds a support group for plastic surgery addicts. She is determined to find this monstrous surgeon and stop him. 'Invasive' has the perfect blend of body horror, mystery, suspense, and tension. It'll raise the hair on your skin and ask questions through the end. An effective thriller that will have readers coming back. 

Jesus Hervas and Dan Jackson create such a dark landscape where even the daylight seems angry and foreboding. There are shadowy corners everywhere invoking the cinematographer of a David Fincher film but much more sinister. Eerie hallways, a dilapidated abandoned hospital, scary costumed figures, and of course, the grotesque and gory body horror all just ramp up the tension throughout this visually unnerving issue. 

'Invasive' is some of Bunn's best work in an opening series that is sure to thrill horror fans.