A review by dozmuttz
Red Room: The Antisocial Network by Ed Piskor
5.0
WARNING: NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART, BUT ED PISKOR IS A BRUTALLY DISGUSTING GENIUS!!!
If you’re looking for some creative horror writing with some gruesome and awesome artwork, look no further than Ed Piskor’s ‘Red Room’. This first volume, and the start to the series, is called ‘The Antisocial Network’. Ed starts us off with 4 issues showing us the interweb world of the red rooms. Brutal killings and torture live on stream for the filthy rich (emphasive on *filthy*) to donate crypto currency to view. Each issue shows us the vast cast of disgusting individuals who are at the top of the black web. In the first issue we are introduced to the biggest baddie of them all, Mistress Pentagram. The sort of orchestrator of the stream snuff business. We see her break down what the red rooms are and in turn we get different perspectives from each issue on what happens in these secret chat rooms. Be careful when opening this one, because it does not hold back, much like if you were to actually open a link to one of these terrifying streams. If you can stomach it though, and make sure not to eat before or directly after, you’ll get a glance at a very creative horror comic.
Ed Piskor shows he is a true renaissance man, as he tackles every bit of work in this book. Writing, pencils, inking, coloring, hell even the lettering! Of course though let’s start with the writing. Man, did Piskor deliver a horror chef’s kiss. I love his overall plot and concept and I feel like he captures the idea perfectly. With the massive popularity and uptick on streaming platforms, this book couldn’t have come out at a better time. Piskor also shows his knowledge with social media, as he himself has a pretty big youtube following with his shared channel, “Cartoonist Kayfabe” (great channel, you should check it out). But I mean this guy set’s up a lot of moments where the dialogue you’re reading is straight from the chatroom. It all actually feels like a live chat too. It’s funny and it for sure is done in a way to make it feel relatable. Whether you’ve been the one to type the stuff in the chat or read it. I also just think the whole aspect of the snuff stream is super scary, seeing as this isn’t something Piskor just came out of nowhere and thought up. The fact that his inspiration is mainly over exaggerated (some cases not that exaggerated ) real life events that took place on the internet sends straight up chills down my spine and anxiety pumping to my heart. He also does a great job of making each issue feel its own, while also adding to the overarching plot. That was one of his main goals going into this mini-series and I think he does it perfectly. It kinda has an anthology feel, but it’s all still connected. Like there are characters that are in each issue who are just simply recurring, but don’t make you feel like it’s something you need a deep dive in. If you want to go back to issue one that’s totally fine, but starting with issue 4 still gives you a great idea about what the whole thing is about.
Now onto the main entree, his artwork. Piskor shows that he is a brilliant cartoonist! It’s almost scary to think someone can think of gory things like what Piskor drew. Some of the best are able to reach deep down and come up with anything and in Piskor’s case, anything *is* up to the drawing board. There is some super gnarly stuff in this read and most of the time that’s not my jam, but there’s more to Piskor’s artwork than just the nasty torture and killing. The overall technique of his cartonning is outstanding! The paneling was on another level, super creative for the regular shots, but him involving the streams *as a part of the paneling* was genius to me. Stuff like the live chat, the donations, the bans, EVERYTHING. It looked and felt like a real life stream and chat. It was a really creative way to make the book move forward and it made the read feel unique. Now of course the brutal stuff was also insane, but again there is a technique to it, a great technique. Because of it being more cartoonist artwork I feel like I was able to stomach more than if it was a more *realistic* style. That's why Piskor shines so well with this kind of story. It’s sort of like when cartoons back in the day would show some borderline intense stuff, and it made us laugh, but sometimes we had to stop and think “why is this allowed?” haha. It’s obviously over exaggerated, but that’s what makes it entertaining. The character designs are also brilliant and terrifying. Each psycho is very much their own character, and it plays to the bigger plot of the story. It’s great attention to detail from start to finish.
Overall; You gotta give this a read if you’re in the mood for something scary and gross. And in general if you just want to see a very talented cartoonist with outstanding art styles/technique, I promise you won’t find it anywhere else than here in the Red Rooms.
If you’re looking for some creative horror writing with some gruesome and awesome artwork, look no further than Ed Piskor’s ‘Red Room’. This first volume, and the start to the series, is called ‘The Antisocial Network’. Ed starts us off with 4 issues showing us the interweb world of the red rooms. Brutal killings and torture live on stream for the filthy rich (emphasive on *filthy*) to donate crypto currency to view. Each issue shows us the vast cast of disgusting individuals who are at the top of the black web. In the first issue we are introduced to the biggest baddie of them all, Mistress Pentagram. The sort of orchestrator of the stream snuff business. We see her break down what the red rooms are and in turn we get different perspectives from each issue on what happens in these secret chat rooms. Be careful when opening this one, because it does not hold back, much like if you were to actually open a link to one of these terrifying streams. If you can stomach it though, and make sure not to eat before or directly after, you’ll get a glance at a very creative horror comic.
Ed Piskor shows he is a true renaissance man, as he tackles every bit of work in this book. Writing, pencils, inking, coloring, hell even the lettering! Of course though let’s start with the writing. Man, did Piskor deliver a horror chef’s kiss. I love his overall plot and concept and I feel like he captures the idea perfectly. With the massive popularity and uptick on streaming platforms, this book couldn’t have come out at a better time. Piskor also shows his knowledge with social media, as he himself has a pretty big youtube following with his shared channel, “Cartoonist Kayfabe” (great channel, you should check it out). But I mean this guy set’s up a lot of moments where the dialogue you’re reading is straight from the chatroom. It all actually feels like a live chat too. It’s funny and it for sure is done in a way to make it feel relatable. Whether you’ve been the one to type the stuff in the chat or read it. I also just think the whole aspect of the snuff stream is super scary, seeing as this isn’t something Piskor just came out of nowhere and thought up. The fact that his inspiration is mainly over exaggerated (some cases not that exaggerated ) real life events that took place on the internet sends straight up chills down my spine and anxiety pumping to my heart. He also does a great job of making each issue feel its own, while also adding to the overarching plot. That was one of his main goals going into this mini-series and I think he does it perfectly. It kinda has an anthology feel, but it’s all still connected. Like there are characters that are in each issue who are just simply recurring, but don’t make you feel like it’s something you need a deep dive in. If you want to go back to issue one that’s totally fine, but starting with issue 4 still gives you a great idea about what the whole thing is about.
Now onto the main entree, his artwork. Piskor shows that he is a brilliant cartoonist! It’s almost scary to think someone can think of gory things like what Piskor drew. Some of the best are able to reach deep down and come up with anything and in Piskor’s case, anything *is* up to the drawing board. There is some super gnarly stuff in this read and most of the time that’s not my jam, but there’s more to Piskor’s artwork than just the nasty torture and killing. The overall technique of his cartonning is outstanding! The paneling was on another level, super creative for the regular shots, but him involving the streams *as a part of the paneling* was genius to me. Stuff like the live chat, the donations, the bans, EVERYTHING. It looked and felt like a real life stream and chat. It was a really creative way to make the book move forward and it made the read feel unique. Now of course the brutal stuff was also insane, but again there is a technique to it, a great technique. Because of it being more cartoonist artwork I feel like I was able to stomach more than if it was a more *realistic* style. That's why Piskor shines so well with this kind of story. It’s sort of like when cartoons back in the day would show some borderline intense stuff, and it made us laugh, but sometimes we had to stop and think “why is this allowed?” haha. It’s obviously over exaggerated, but that’s what makes it entertaining. The character designs are also brilliant and terrifying. Each psycho is very much their own character, and it plays to the bigger plot of the story. It’s great attention to detail from start to finish.
Overall; You gotta give this a read if you’re in the mood for something scary and gross. And in general if you just want to see a very talented cartoonist with outstanding art styles/technique, I promise you won’t find it anywhere else than here in the Red Rooms.