¨Pixu: The Mark of Evil¨ is pure artistic genius.

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Actually I tried not to avoid even reading this book - If only because I generally hate horror themed comics in general; as well as the fact that this graphic novel is illustrated in black and white.  Two things in comics I try to avoid.  A colorless comic takes a hell of artistic talent to make the genre workbook flow, especially with the use of shadowing.  And the only notable example I can think of a horror genre comic that is more than a illustrated remake of a bad John Carpenter film with is Ben Templesmith´s ¨40 Days of Night.¨

The two-part comic serial of ¨Pixu: The Mark of Evil¨ has been released since 2008 from Dark Horse Comic Publishing, which is known as the premier publishers of horror genre comics in the industry.  One friend had been continually preaching what a great title this is, and how this was the must read comic of 2008. Considering this is the same friend who liked the ¨Transformers 2¨game for XBOX 360 I did not give his opinion any serious consideration.

When the graphic novel of ¨Pixu¨ was released in July this year I bought it only because so many close friends of mine were so impressed by this title.  Now I know what the ¨hype¨ is about – Pixu is the most groundbreaking horror graphic novel in years.  This is far from your typical gothic masturbation trip normally seen in the horror comic genre.

 ¨Pixu¨ is the story of five strangers living in a haunted apartment complex who find a mark on the wall.  The mark on the wall is related to an evil presence that begins to affect the five individuals in the house psychologically.  The story does not get caught up with long periods of character buildups, ¨Pixu¨ gives you a minimum amount of background on each resident of the house, and then the house then begins to mentally twist each character in disturbing ways.  There are some obvious plot cliques here with reference to the ending, but ¨Pixu¨ is more about how you get to the conclusion, then what the ending is in itself.

¨Pixu¨is written by four illustrators, each breaking down the book into four parts; it shows in fact that this book is more visual than text based, and the artistic style is of top quality.  Dark and brooding, this book uses the black and white format perfectly, especially with the blending of shadows.  This four-part artistic sectioning of the book allows each section to have a unique look, yet surprisingly smoothly transitioned feel.  Not surprisingly since the book is illustrated by a full roster of veteran artists, from Eisner award-winning artists Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon who are best known for their comic/graphic novel ¨Umbrella Corporation,¨ to Eisner-nominated illustrator Becky Cloonan, best known for her work on the independent series ¨American Virgin¨; and relative newcomer to the American market Vasilis Lolos of ¨The Last Call.¨

The only good comparison to the plot in this book is the movie ¨The Legend of Hell House, or its better known remake Event Horizon.¨  These are the (two) best haunted house movie ever made, and the similarity to ¨Pixu¨ is clear, and one would have to wonder if these two movies influenced Pixu. The main similarity being the reality the house itself is the main character rather than the actual characters themselves.

For this reason many critics have previously stated they found ¨Pixu¨ confusing and the plot hard to comprehend.  My only response to that would be if  a creative, open-ended storyline that gives the reader unique value is over your head, then to go back to reading Superman.

It is not surprising that the ¨Pixu¨ team consists of four out of five of last year´s Eisner award- winning team that produced another outstanding graphic novel, ¨5.¨ We can hope that this creative team will continue to work together for many years to come. The only question I have is how long until this amazing title becomes another graphic novel turned movie smash hit...