Graphic Novel Review: The Chill by Jason Starr & Mick Bertilorenzi

The Chill is far and away the best of what Vertigo Crime has put out thus far. Yes, I’m still pretty fucking pissed that The Chill - like Dark Entries before it - is supernatural instead of straight-up crime like I’d envisioned for such an imprint, but there’s no getting around how much fun this shit is. Besides, as a fervent fan of Jason Starr’s nasty brand of noir, it’s pretty exciting to see him take a stab at not only comics, but horror as well. Wait a second…he hasn’t done a proper cop novel yet either, has he? Make that three firsts, then. Jesus.

NYPD detective Pavano is looking for a serial killer. Witnesses say it’s a woman, but they all have differing opinions on what exactly she looks like. They all agree that she’s the most gorgeous woman they’ve ever seen. And oh yeah – in addition to the victims being all kinds of cut up and fucked up, their also frozen, in the middle of a sweltering NYC summer, that is.

Boston drunk bastard cop Martin Cleary catches the story on TV, thinks he knows what’s up. Runs down to New York, starts talking about an old girlfriend from his younger days who made him literally freeze when he was fucking her. Mentions some shit about Druid sacrifice rituals and immortality and other wild shit. Pavano blows him off, but when the body count starts picking up and murders get more gruesome, Cleary starts looking saner every minute.


Like any Starr fan would expect, The Chill is packed with violence, suspense, NYC shit, and bottleservice-y bar scene douchebags. Artist Mick Bertlorenzi has a blast depicting all the sex and violence this story has to offer, every scene tight and viscerally exciting. And the Druid murderess Arlana’s ability to shape shift into any man’s specific dream woman make this a story that could only be properly told as a graphic novel.

But what I especially like about The Chill is just how gleefully fucking nasty it is. Damn near every dude that Arlana seduces is an absolute creep and you couldn’t give a shit if his cock gets frozen inside of her. Just grotesque fucking douchebags. And then there’s Starr’s approach to Pavano’s investigation, where he’s basically a clueless asshole instead of the brilliant detective a lesser book would have settled for. And the delightfully sick denouement…and the fucking amazingly gross priest gag…

 Okay, that’s enough of that. If I talk about this shit any more I’m gonna get all spoilery on your ass. Like I said up top, this shit is supernatural as hell, but undoubtedly noir. It also makes sense for this series in that it’s perfect for a one-shot, one-sitting arc whereas it would probably have gotten annoying as a six issue run or if they had tried to expand it into a Vertigo-proper series. So while I wish there was a hard-bound imprint of Vertigo “Supernatural” Crime to differentiate this stuff from my personal vision for Vertigo Crime, I think I’ll just be thankful shit this dark and gross is released at all.



Originally Published by Nerd of Noir February 20, 2010