The Empty Man: Recurrence

The Empty Man: Recurrence

by Cullen Bunn, Niko Guardia (Primary Contributor), Jesús Hervás (Illustrator)

The nation is in the grip of a terrible pandemic, with murder cults forming and those affected by the disease being quarantined by the government -- one family does all they can to hide a member from both factions.

There’s something terribly wrong with Melissa Kerry. Her husband Andrew sees it. Their teenage daughter Vicki sees it. Melissa is losing herself, falling into the grips of the Empty Man pandemic that is spreading across the nation. Andrew and Vicki do all they can to care for her themselves, to keep her worsening condition a secret from the roving government quarantine crews, but it’s becoming harder and harder...until a strange visitor arrives on their doorstep, offering a cure. Written by Eisner Award-nominated author Cullen Bunn (Harrow County, Bone Parish) and illustrated by artist Jesús Hervás (Lucas Stand), Recurrence is the second installment in The Empty Man franchise and explores the psychological horror of a family member in decline, and the depths one will go to protect those they love.

Genres: Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Fantasy

112 pages, Paperback

First published July 23, 2019

About the author

Cullen grew up in rural North Carolina, but now lives in the St. Louis area with his wife Cindy and his son Jackson. His noir/horror comic (and first collaboration with Brian Hurtt), The Damned, was published in 2007 by Oni Press. The follow-up, The Damned: Prodigal Sons, was released in 2008. In addition to The Sixth Gun, his current projects include Crooked Hills, a middle reader horror prose series from Evileye Books; The Tooth, an original graphic novel from Oni Press; and various work for Marvel and DC. Somewhere along the way, Cullen founded Undaunted Press and edited the critically acclaimed small press horror magazine, Whispers from the Shattered Forum.

All writers must pay their dues, and Cullen has worked various odd jobs, including Alien Autopsy Specialist, Rodeo Clown, Professional Wrestler Manager, and Sasquatch Wrangler.

And, yes, he has fought for his life against mountain lions and he did perform on stage as the World's Youngest Hypnotist. Buy him a drink sometime, and he'll tell you all about it.

Visit his website at www.cullenbunn.com.

Reviews

[OmniBen · Rating 2 out of 5]

(Zero spoiler review) 1.5/5
Cullen Bunn inner monologue: 'I want to write a psychological horror story, although I'm either unwilling or unable to effectively build tension and mood and engage the reader over six issues. I also want to tell a monster story, so that there can be a big scary creature for people to fear. I know, I'll do both, and not very well either. Bingo. Cut Print.
This is utter garbage. I was somewhat more forgiving of the opening volume. It was heavily flawed, but three was enough there to cobble together something resembling a coherent story. For whatever reason, Bunn has decided to double down on everything awful about the first volume, but not only that, said 'hold my beer' then proceeded to outdo said awfulness with one of the most inconsistent and uninteresting follow ups I've ever seen. I thought we were going to escape the clutches of the previous books two main protagonists, although one of them rears her head early on, and is somehow even less engaging or believable than last time. The dialogue is awful, the new characters are awful, whatever sticky tape and chewing gum Bunn is using to try and tie this convoluted mess of a plot together, is awful. I stopped and rolled my eyes on numerous occasions at just how unrealistic these characters are, and how little I could bother my ass to keep reading about them. I really had to force it.
The art is the sole positive I could mention here. Hervas has taken over from Del Rey, and it is a slight step up in overall quality. I was a little more forgiving of Del Rey's art than others were, but even though they share similarities in style, Hervas seems to posses the greater ability when it comes to character models and movement, even though there isn't that much between them. I still preferred Del Rey's more ghastly panels. The books look is adequate, its Bunn who utterly shits the bed with his mediocrity here.
Answers on a postcard if you can figure out what he was going for, because I've got no idea. 1.5/5


OmniBen.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

I liked this volume better than the original series volume. This was a more straightforward story and did a little more to explain the "Empty Man Virus." Apparently the man in the coma in the original series was dreaming, and his dreams are somehow infecting the world. And by this point even killing the man won't stop the virus as it's already been unleashed on the world. I'm still a little confused as to what made his dreams infect the world, but I'm going with the idea he was a powerful psychic of some kind.

The cults are becoming more dangerous, and one of our main characters has been infected but is fighting it with the help of an experimental drug. Still not sure what happened to the agent who went into the "other world" in the first series to stop the disease. There's also more monsters running around now.

Overall this isn't bad, especially since the story ha started to develop more.

[Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good, but it feels rushed a bit in this volume. A LOT of wise man explaining shit. They try to keep the pace up with the info dump interspersed by action, which is admirable, but it really could have been fleshed out with a sub plot that allowed for more reasonable pacing.

I enjoy the premise though. Great idea with some work needed in execution.

[Jameson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t care too much for the first volume but it interested me enough to see how the story develops. Answer: not much. It pretty much is a continuation of the same story: X-Files investigates weird cult/contagion. The art has definitely improved, compared to the last volume, although it still feels of a piece with that, and the page design helps with consistency.

“I think we’re all infected in some way or another. That’s why no one can have a civil conversation anymore. That’s why we’d rather hate each other than hear the other side of an argument.”

In this volume the writer tries to bring into focus the theme: that the empty man is basically free thought. Free thought gone berserk. Bunn tries to use this idea to comment on social strife circa 2020–apparently the idea is that too much free thought has sown discord between people. I don’t think it’s a successful metaphor. Because I think it’s beyond plain that the exact opposite is true. Most people don’t exercise enough free thought! They willingly digest whatever bullshit Happy Meal their shiny, plastic media feed them. The idea that people are infected by something and that’s why they’re unable to see the other side of an argument is certainly valid but that “something” being “free thought” doesn’t tally.

Yes, people are infected nowadays. But they’re infected with the nuance-free, mediated narratives carefully designed to do three things: assure their believers that they are smart and good and morally correct, enrage them, and direct their rage at an “other.” The media goes to great pains to convince the population that the world is black and white: you can either be on the “right side of history” or be the “other.” This “other” being someone with different opinions unsanctioned by corporate-media, opinions that aren’t “ad-friendly,” and so it’s perfectly okay if they are unpersoned.

I don’t like where any of this going, has gone, but I don’t see this in The Empty Man.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This doesn't feel as strong as the first Empty Man. I think that's due to a breakdown in suspense and trying too hard to explain the horror.

The point where they explain everything in a horror story is usually when everything breaks down and loses it's magic. And that's what this new addition is.

[Cale · Rating 2 out of 5]

This feels like a middle volume; the disaster of the Empty Man is growing, but the focus of the story is on a single family rather than trying to encompass the entirety of the plague. We see a number of horrific moments; the series revels in them (in a manner reminiscent to Crossed, albeit not quite that extreme) rather than trying to tell a real story. Instead, we get the introduction of a new cult that does terrible things, the hint of a new leader, and a lot of fluff surrounding the characters without any real forward motion in the plot. While the major action sequence (the scouring of a neighborhood) has some decent action, everything surrounding it added very little. While the art is effective at conveying the horror, this is a bridge that really needs a destination (another volume that answers the questions this one raises) before it can be recommended.

[vk chompooming · Rating 1 out of 5]

What the heck did I just read!!? I saw this movie and I thought that sux, maybe the comic it was based on is better or will give me a new insight into the movie. Crap, I was wrong! Cullen Bunn is a pretty good writer so I have to wonder y her wrote this uninteresting, lackluster drivel. the plot is more convoluted than the plot of Cloud Atlas. The artwork is horrible. Jesus Hervas needs to b ashamed of his work. I'm more impressed I finished this comic and it was from sheer morbid curiosity. Reading this vol. was on me. I knew better. Apparently there is a 3rd vol. and I gotta stop at this one.

[Ricardo Nuno Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot thickens...
I still haven´t decided if I like this graphic novel.
I'll proceed to book 3 and then rate the first three books of "The Empty Man".

Reviews:
Book 1 - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book 2 - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book 3 - https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Andrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Somehow I liked this better than the first volume. It does a better job of introducing you into the story, it has a tense atmosphere that suits the book, and the plot evolves at a natural pace. Ends on a cliffhanger and there are a lot of questions that will need an answer in the next volume. The art is ok, easier to understand than in the first volume.

[Francesca Giardiello · Rating 2 out of 5]

Purtroppo anche se le premesse erano decisamente promettenti, la storia cerca di essere intrigante e stimolante risultando invece essere solo un volume di "connessione" pieno di azione ma con un ritmo inverosimilmente lento.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

Left me feeling a little empty (pun intended), and some things felt a little too close to home, given the last few years of political happenings. Plus, there's a notable gap between when the first volume was published and this one was published. (And there are similar character issues that I had from the prior volume.)

[Alexandre · Rating 2 out of 5]

love the art but the story doesn't make much sense to me.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a decent follow-up story, but disappointing that it ended in the middle.

[Luke Shea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh, kept me interested, but boy howdy is it hard not to keep comparing this to how much better the movie's take on these themes was

[The_J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anti-Free Will, a world seemingly devoid of any force for good - the disease spreads and mutates: Where are thou, Salvation? An intense vision, that seems coherent, but unpleasant.

[Sean Fitzpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The comic is pretty cool, but honestly you should just watch the movie. One of those rare books where the movie is wayyy better than its source material.

[Vonne Patiag · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this art style so much

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this better than the first because I wasn't comparing it to the movie. I'd read the third one.

[Robert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Review is for all three volumes read consecutively

It has a definite look and a feel, but it's more creepy and odd than it is interesting.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Interesting premise, a little hard to follow.

[Benny Gallagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story Bunn and Del Rey tell is compelling and terrifying in such a way that readers can immediately relate what is happening in the story—albeit it make believe—to what is happening in our political and social discourse in the world today.
“The Empty Man Made Me Do It” is always left scrawled in blood, paint, or who knows what on places where something horrific has happened in his name. More and more residents are infected and start to die because of this untreatable and unknowable disease.
How can society fight back against something they don’t know, see, or understand? What they are soon to find out is that The Empty Man is real, and the terror he brings with him will infect everyone unless he can be stopped… but, how?
The illustrations are beautifully rendered in dark and sepia tones, portraying a world that is bleak and dark. Everything is drawn with a dream-like soft and flowing quality that furthers the feeling that readers are in some sort of dream-like state themselves, wondering what is real and what is The Empty Man’s influence.
Darkness and bleakness permeate the terrifying and hallucinatory type of illustrations, which fits the story perfectly. Panels are laid out traditionally, with lettering often spanning across pages to further the terror that permeates through families, walls, towns, and Earth.