Nearly seven years ago, back in the summer of 2018 (where does the time go?), regular Biff Bam Pop! contributor and comic book (and toy, and all-round pop culture) aficionado, E.A. Henson, highlighted the first issue of the supernatural-crime series, Bone Parish.
At the time, Henson’s review called it a “knocks it out of the park” first issue. For posterity’s sake, you can find that particular column right here.
Henson, as is always the case when it comes to comic books, was dead right. It was indeed a spectacular first issue.
Still, truth be told, his accolades were an easy prognostication for the entirety of the series.
Written by the fan-favourite and award-winning Cullen Bunn (Harrow County, The Empty Man, The Sixth Gun, The Damned) and lavishly illustrated in a gritty-noir style by Jonas Scharf (Basilisk, Dark X-Men) and published by Boom! Studios, Bone Parish wrapped it’s sordid and thrilling tale over the span of twelve, monthly issues. Together, the series was a can’t-miss event!
Today finally sees the release of the complete collection. And if you missed it in its monthly format, now is the time to inhale its crime-horror narrative…deeply!
The 296-page Bone Parish: Complete Collection tells the tale of one family’s early, meandering rise in the crime and drug scene of New Orleans, a perfectly gothic backdrop for the terror that ensues. The Winters are peddling a powder called “Ash”, a new, high-in-demand, hallucinogen that changes a user’s experience depending upon the origins of the substance. But it’s not like this white stuff comes from the coca plant. No, it’s got an entirely horrific origin. The Winters family makes everything in-house, beginning with the illegal and immoral and altogether unfathomable robbing of graves. Bodies and skeletons are ground down – and the result is their “Ash” powder trade.
In Bone Parish: Complete Collection, the “high” is that the powder allows you to experience and interact with the memories of the dead. Horrific enough that a user is snorting the ashes of bones and rotting flesh. Even more terrifying is that boutique orders are being placed on the “Ash” of pornstars and politicians, poets and musicians – and even dead family members – so that users get a hallucinogenic high tailored on the dead’s singular life. It’s a disgusting business, but the Winters are making it into something big. And that garners the attention of rival crime syndicates from around the country. Horrors, they discover are not just in the spiritual realm.
Can a criminal enterprise thrive in a world of drugs, guns, violence, ghosts – and the familial memories of patriarchs and matriarchs?
Make the run to your local comic book shop or bookstore today and pick up the Bone Parish: Complete Collection and ride the thrilling narrative to a horrifically crime-riddled and ghastly end!
