Of all the books I have read (which is no small amount) few have managed to capture the sense of rage, anger, despair, heartache and utter confusion that comes with senseless violence as this has. Thankfully I have never experienced such pain (and I dread the day I do, or even anything that comes close) but as O'Barr empties his heart and soul onto the pages of this book, this comes close to what I imagine that to be. Each frame, each image and each moment of speech pounces off the page, grabs your guts and twists, especially those moments where Eric is tortured by his memories of Shelley, of the times before their car brokedown, before darkness entered their lives and of that moment itself when fate turned against them and tore their world apart. Granted the story itself is riff with stereotypical characters with little character development beyond what Eric himself goes through but that is the point. This is a book about loss and revenge, an attempt by a tortured soul to ease his pain and to show the world and cruel man can be. It is true that the film version does build on the characters more and provide more of a plot, including providing a motive for the attack on the couple, which is better as a story, but compared to this it looses the sense of randomness, of pointless violence and of the damage the unanswerable question of 'why' can be.

This is the book that defined gothic thrillers and became the most popular underground comic book of all time. A story as much about love as it is about vengeance, this short epic depicts raw human emotion in a way in which everybody can relate to. The hero is agreeable, if a little sadistic, yet represents true pain and love in it's most intimate forms. The artwork is superb and the dialogue has a lot more depth than is expected of graphic novels. This book defines love and pain and brings to light the true depths of human emotion. At it's best it portrays the actions of a man gone mad, brought to life to seek revenge on those who took his and his lover's lives. He is driven by a burning desire to end his mission and thus be reunited with his lover and be at peace. His actions mirror those of any other man in his position and his enemies are as commonplace as the gangs and thugs you'd find on any street corner. The message is deep and meaningful and O'Barr's story hits the darkest parts of the soul. This book is dark and beautiful and it's appeal is timeless. Everybody should read this book at least once in their lives, it is the mostly highly recommended of all books.