Sometimes misnomers are so extreme they have a kind of irony that approaches pure poetry. Consider Ben Templesmith’s Welcome to Hoxford, which to the uninitiated, would be called a ‘comic’ book.

While getting past the confines of the now completely mislabeled format or approaching the more apt “graphic novel", to call Welcome to Hoxford a comic book is like calling Eli Roth’s Hostel a travel video. The second page of the book  demonstrates an inmate from an insane asylum being brutally murdered by his cell mate while the doctors look on helplessly. Welcome to Hoxford, where people enter but never leave.

The first book in the series begins with the introduction of Raymond Delgado. He is the newest inmate at the Hoxford Correctional Facility and Mental Institution. He’s Hannibal Lecter with no manners or method. He kills unremittingly with no remorse or purpose and there are more like him.  Templesmith does a pretty good job at introducing unappealing murderous characters and their backgrounds in a short space of time.

The art and lettering are vivid, keenly grotesque and stylish. The colors are well chosen in shades of green, brown and purple.

With Welcome to Hoxford, Templesmith has proven he’s a force, in the graphic format, to be reckoned with, and good thing for us there is more to come. Just be glad it’s only a comic book. 

This Reviewer's Rating: 4 / 5

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