Comic Review: 11:59

ZINES_1159 ZINES_1159Comic, Jess Sheridan, jess-sheridan.tumblr.com, $1

It’s always exciting to come across a piece of work identified as someone’s first, and to see them just kill it. From start to finish, everything about this first comic zine by Jess Sheridan is compelling.

11:59 is gorgeously illustrated in black and white. In creating this mini-thriller, Sheridan excels at invoking real, frightened tension in just a few pages, with dark richness — the shadows in her character’s Miyuki’s apartment and hallway dripping with foreboding. Miyuki is a young girl who passes the time browsing internet junk on her tablet when her clock freezes at 11:59 and a horrific voice wafts through her apartment door. Sheridan illustrates the voice with thick, gruesome letters flowing under the apartment door and swirling around the room, saying “Pretty girl, let me in!” As the voice flows in through windows and swells around Miyuki, the girl’s terror is palpable.

I won’t give away the ending, but Sheridan’s concept — with time stopping at 11:59 and not proceeding until Miyuki’s fate is revealed — is delightfully spooky. Combined with the luscious illustration, this is a great piece of work and should hold up with the best horror/thriller comic art out there. This is a wonderful first zine — looking forward to more. (Joshua Barton)