I truly love American horror comics, as they delve into the crazy minds of characters that movies have stopped doing. The art is usually brilliant, and the craziness is just running rampant. Colder is one of those comics; however, one of my favorite things about this series is the monster design.

The five-part series follows a mental patient who is being taken care of by a nurse. Declan lives with the said nurse, but he’s getting colder and colder as time moves on, and everyone thinks he’s in a coma. There are no records of him, as the series opens up with a fire that burns down an asylum during World War II. Declan later discovers he must fight an enemy named Nimble Jack, who put him in a coma to begin with. Insane people, or crazy people, are actually mentally stuck in an alternate world full of evil monsters and batshit insane stuff.

This is when the comic got really good: Declan taking his caretaker into the other world and using insane people as kind of a port key or doorway. Nimble Jack eats the souls of insane people, and his prize is Declan himself, who’s been “marinating” in insanity for him to devour. Nimble Jack actually reminds me a lot of The Joker, and I couldn’t help but notice his mannerisms, which aren’t all that bad, actually.

The comic is surprisingly well-paced and forgoes the panels of nothing with panels of heavy dialog. I felt there was a beginning, middle, and end to the five issues, which are hard to pull off. The characters are likeable, and the comic makes you think about your own sanity, which most comics don’t do. The grotesque monsters are truly unique, are disgusting, and keep you hooked, as well as the occasional gore.

Overall, Colder is a great horror comic series, and I couldn’t find much wrong with it except some slightly rushed character development, but overall, this series is quite memorable.