Comic Book Review: Silent Hill – Dying Inside

The Silent Hill franchise is perfect for a comic book/graphic novel series. With such a unique & disturbing universe to explore, any story taking place within the town shaped by the horrors of your own mind.

Dying Inside was the first series to be published with two different artists working on it. Ben Templesmith covered parts 1 & 2 while Aadi Salman covered parts 3 to 5. The difference in style is noticeable & I much prefer the grittier look of parts 1 & 2.

The story is broken into two parts. Part one focuses on Dr. Abernathy, a psychiatrist dealing with his own issues surrounding his wife’s suicide. He agrees to help a patient who has recently returned from a filming trip at the abandoned town of Silent Hill. She is suffering from delusions & to try & reach her he takes her back to the town. There they come under attack from the monsters of the town that seem to be commanded by a young girl, Christabella.

The second part of the story sees the tape from the girl’s footage ending up in the hands of a female punk, Lauryn. Alongside her group of rocker friends, boyfriend & secret lover the group head off to Silent Hill to explore & see for themselves. However this is exactly what Christabella wanted, the tape was meant to end up in Lauryn’s hands.

Both parts of the story are good but the former sections involving Abernathy are more enjoyable fitting well with what I already know about Silent Hill. The art really brings it to life & the monster designs exciting. The latter half is a bit convoluted & difficult to follow at times. It does have some really dark imagery though & I liked the more positive ending, something I’m not used to within the franchise.

The two parts connect well together & the art style isn’t so wildly different that it poses a problem. Well worth checking out if you’re a fan of the Silent Hill universe.

I would just like to see the lore expanded on a bit more.