By Zack Quaintance — Holy cow, folks, artist Leila Leiz is having quite the two weeks, having first illustrated M.O.M.: Mother of Madness #1 (co-written by Game of Thrones star, Emilia Clarke!) and now the new Vault Comics series, The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1. Being prolific is one thing, but Leiz’s work in both books has been absolutely outstanding, and also varied. While in M.O.M. there was a playful chic-ness to her lines (colored in that book by the excellent Triona Farrell), what Leiz does here in The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1 is far heavier, far more ominous, complimented excellently by colorist Giada Marchisio and letterer Jim Campbell.

And ominous/heavy is the order of the day for The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1, the latest series from red-hot publisher Vault Comics. This book is in the same thematic vein as another of the publisher’s offerings, the recently concluded Resonant, looking to explore the darkest impulses of human beings, although the road it takes to that territory is quite a bit different. Resonant was a concept built around roiling waves that forced people to give in to their dark impulses, while The Last Book You’ll Ever Read has a more magical bent.

Indeed, the premise here — as scripted by writer Cullen Bunn — is that a single book is causing people to give in to their darkest impulses and to subsequently aim them at the book’s author, losing total control of their gotdamned minds. There’s an almost nihilistic undercurrent to how this is all portrayed, with this comic’s opening sequence concluding with a monologue that notes, we’re prey…right up until the moment we hunt. Pretty bleak stuff, but not at all at odds with this being a horror comic, one with a blood splattering logo and series of decomposed hands grabbing at a protagonist on its cover. Said line is also one we soon find out is taken from the titular book in question.

This is a fairly interesting premise, evoking as it does the obvious question of what if this very book turned me into a monster. It reminds me of a short prose story I once read (the name and author of which I have forgotten) that ends with a killer right behind you the reader. It’s basically impossible not to look over your shoulder as you finish it, I know I did. And I think that’s what this comic is ultimately getting at. It what’s the reader to think inwardly about their own propensity for violence as well as about being manipulated into it.

It’s given a pretty excellent narrative motor to take us there, too. There are questions about the public’s reliable propensity to feel entitled to attack any and all content creators built-in, although I’m not sure (yet) if that’s this books intention. Instead, the author is beset by animalistic attacks from readers, to the point she enlists a body guard under one condition — he never read her book. Of course, we know he eventually will, and what happens then is a pretty enticing question to get readers to return, to return to the bleak scripting with the top-tier blood-soaked ominous horror story artwork to be found in The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1.

Overall: Blood-soaked and ominous, The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1 is a top-tier horror comic that wants to know what you think about your personal propensity to be savage. Read at your own risk. 8.5/10

REVIEW: The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1

The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Artist: Leila Leiz
Colorist: Giada Marchisio
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Vault Comics
Civilization is a lie. Hidden deep in our genes is the truth. And it is slowly clawing its way to the surface. Olivia Kade knows the truth, and she has become the prophet of the coming collapse. Her book, SATYR, is an international bestseller, and it is being blamed for acts of senseless violence and bloodshed all over the world. Olivia's own life is in danger from those who have read her work. Determined to conduct a book tour, she hires security professional Connor Wilson to act as her bodyguard. She only has one requirement: he cannot read her work.
Price: $3.99
More Info: The Last Book You’ll Ever Read #1

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.