Nightcrawler's brief adventure in the New York subway system comes to a less-gruesome or depressing end than one might expect. We actually see some conscience being demonstrated by a politician, the mayor of New York city to be precise, and there's only one minor bought of fisticuffs in the issue that basically turns out to be a misunderstanding between the living (Nightcrawler) and the dead.
At one point in this issue, Kurt notes that something that the ghosts are doing is just like something out of the film The Grudge. Whether he's talking about the original or the Hollywood remake, I'm not sure, but while the scene might well be similar, the tone definitely is not. There is nothing of Japanese horror to this series, which is fundamentally a horror-superhero series. In Japanese horror, for the most part, the afterlife, or other world, or however we might consider it, is in no way sympathetic to the living. I've yet to see a Japanese, or Japanese-inspired in the case of the remakes, film in which the ghosts are actually just misunderstood and basically friendly. No, inevitably, they're angry and remain angry, and destroy all the living who cross their path. It's a good thing, I guess, that Nightcrawler can teleport out of that path.
If I'm honest, and this is certainly not to be derogatory, the series is like a superpowered version of Scooby-Doo. Thus far, including Kurt, we have three characters who are what I would term "main cast," all of whom are involved in some way in the mysteries that Nightcrawler is tasked with solving. Though, so far, there's no talking dog.
To be continued.
No comments:
Post a Comment