Friday the 13th Vol.2More mutilation and savage murders fill the second book of Wildstorm’s Friday the 13th series! Rather than a standalone story collected from the issues of one miniseries, this book is a collection of smaller stories, comprised of single or two issue arcs. These stories range from greatly stylized and fun to poorly conceptualized and bizarre, but they all share two things; the man in the hockey mask and bloody violence!
The first story is one that sheds light on Mrs. Voorhees’ history of how she got to where we find her in the first issue. It shows Jason’s father and young Jason himself and while this is supposed to give us more insight into what makes them killers or give us more psychological reasoning behind their reign of terror, instead it serves to actually discredit Jason’s story and the tragedy of their motives. For instance, while Jason is a boy, he’s shown as being cruel to animals and torturing them to death. This is written by someone who doesn’t understand that Jason is actually the hero in his story, back from the dead on a misguided quest for vengeance against those who helped cause his drowning through their negligence. Mrs. Voorhees may be crazy, but it is an insanity brought on by grief and anger from the loss of her boy. She’s on a similar path for retribution, but showing that she was always crazy, simply takes away from the tragedy of their story. When you watch a Jason movie, you root for him to kill people, this story is simply ridiculous.
As the other tales go on they get better. There’s a one issue story nicely stylized by artist Andy B. even if the story is a little silly and misplaced in a Friday the 13th book. In “Badland”, the third story, writer Ron Marz and artist Mike Huddleston tell a two issue story that flash back and forth between a snowy Jason story of today and a similar revenge tale a hundred years ago. The lines in the art are as crisp and solid as Marz’s storyline. This story lends credibility to the theory that the lake is the source of evil or retribution.
In the last and best story in the trade, Jason Aaron and Adam Archer spin us a wicked tale called, “How I Spent My Summer.” Over two issues we see a similarly disfigured boy set upon by Jason at another camp and spared. Jason recognizes their shared pain and takes care of the child in his own way. There’s much more to the story, but it is a perfect demonstration of a writer understanding the mechanics of Jason Voorhees. Unlike the first story, Aaron gives Jason sympathy and makes him the hero. This is perfect because while watching the Friday movies we all cheer for a homicidal maniac and that is the same dynamic that is needed in these books. Adam Archer who previously drew the first volume in its entirety is the perfect artist for any Jason book. His rendering of Jason takes him beyond being simply “a man in a hockey mask” and gives him the spirit of Kane Hodder. This story is worth the price of admission alone.
From good to bad, this book should have something for everyone’s sensibilities. Always welcome around Halloween, I hope Wildstorm has more in store for us by next year. Despite any distaste over the first story, it’s undeniable that, this book becomes more enjoyable as you read it!
Friday the 13th Volume 1
How completely sweet is it when all the right components come together at the right time and place with such synergy that a miracle is born? I’m not talking about the birth of old JC, far from it! Jason might 
In the kitchen, the chefs; writers Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti and artist extraordinaire Adam Archer cook up a culinary delight with all the right ingredients. Let’s see, a splash of blood here, a pinch of nudity there, a simple and yet pitch perfect plot of stupid teenagers boiled to perfection in a hot pot of tension and terror! Point of fact, I won’t even touch on the plot of this book, if you’ve seen a Friday the 13th movie, you don’t need a recap of these events; teenagers fixing up a camp for the next year’s brats? Been there, done that! But that’s what a Jason movie is about! Within that basic framework are the characters that pull you along with the story and make this such an interesting read. Well, that and the nudity.
Machetes in the face, brains bashed out and severed heads flying around will keep all hard core gore hounds with their eyes glued to the page! With artwork, that has already been covered when I reviewed the second volume, by Adam Archer you have what will possible the best Friday the 13th graphic novel to ever come out. Now while I know that the competition isn’t too stiff, any fan of the movies would be remiss to pass it up!
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