I Finally Read: House Of Gold & Bones

First off: I’d like to do a bit of an introduction. I have always loved comics but as everyone knows there are SO many different kinds of comic books that you may need to have a bit of a sample to hear what a particular one is about or if it’ll tickle your fancy. Since I’m living one of my dreams writing on a comics website, I figured it was time to catch up with some stuff that I’ve missed, so this will be my first article in my new “I Finally Read” article series. I started off with a comic I knew would mean a lot to me as my first article. I will be posting as much as I can to review as much as possible, as reading takes up time that life can interfere with, but I hope you enjoy. And if you have any requests during any of the articles, feel free to leave them down in the comments and I will try my best to get to them.

What’s better than just comic books for someone like me, you ask? Music and comic books together, of course! A huge inspiration to a lot of people who are into rock/metal would be the one and only Corey Taylor: a guy who can sing softly through an acoustic show, front a heavy metal band (who just released a new single from their upcoming record), author two New York Times best-selling books, and now, with the upcoming release of the new horror film Fear Clinic, which Taylor is co-starring in with Robert Englund, someone who seems he can translate his stage presence into acting as well. Still, most may know Taylor as the man of two faces, being the front man of Grammy Award-winning heavy metal band Slipknot, and the two time Grammy Award-nominated rock band Stone Sour.

On October 22nd of 2012, Stone Sour released the first part of what would be a double record titled House of Gold & Bones Part 1. Before the first installment of the album dropped, Corey announced at New York Comic Con that there would be a comic to go along with the story of the double album. Both parts of the records turned into art within art, where if you purchased physical copies of both records, you could build the actual House Of Gold & Bones. Through all of the examples shown, there is no doubt that Taylor is a busy genius, and this was one comic I could not wait to read immediately. Unfortunately, life can get in the way of reading such good comics, but since my favorite artist wrote a comic book, I just had to push to make time for me to read the entire story.

Getting to the comic: House of Gold & Bones is a story about a man who wakes up in the middle of a meadow in the middle of nowhere. He has a jumpsuit with the word ‘Zero’ on it, so for the sake of simplicity, we will call him Zero. Zero finds a small house on this grassland when being chased by an angry mob of people where there is another man who looks like his twin by the name of Allen. As Zero has a ton of questions, Allen informs him that this mob has a leader by the name of Black John, and the people with him are called his Numbers. Zero finds Allen a bit sketchy and argues with him throughout the story, as the reader eventually finds out that the two have more of a connection than just looks. Throughout the conversation the two have in the house, Zero finds out that he has a task he must complete, which is that he must make a choice concerning what he refers to as the conflagration. After this, Zero finds himself on a journey to the conflagration, meeting different people, facing different challenges, and learning more throughout the story.

I’m a big fan of mysterious adventures, and this comic really did a lot of those, making it one of the best comics I’ve ever read. The book has a very different, darker take on an almost Wizard of Oz-like story, with the main character waking up in a world going to a city where there’s a mission specifically for him to complete. The comic grabbed me with it’s page-turner mystery that just made me think and put clues together until the very end, which has a resolution but made me just want more from that odd world Taylor brought me into. The artwork is the perfect tweak to make this story what it is: creative! The art of Richard Clark (also did artwork for Image’s Happy and DC’s Batman: Arkham Unhinged) is fantastic, and the colorist Dan Jackson also deserves recognition, as the colors in this book matter big time for different symbolic things such as the perfect red to make the red city.

One other thing that deserves mention is the emotion the book throws at the reader. When reading this book, it shows the dark past of Zero and might give a helping hand to the reader. The story does have more to it that will show an optimistic outlook on even some of the darkest things, which is what Taylor has always portrayed to his fans through his music and books. It’s also worth noting that the comic is for mature readers, so if you have kids you might not want to let little ones be around for this. The only thing that is unfortunate in my opinion is that House of Gold & Bones is a short read, and I wish there was more to this story as the world seems so big. If you are in the mood for a psychological mystery, a dark adventure thrill ride, or just feeling down and need something to relate to, I highly recommend this amazing book, as it is an underrated masterpiece that deserves more attention.

House of Gold & Bones is a four-part comic series that has me begging for more from that world, and also the nerd in me wants to see this on the big screen with amazing cinematography. It’s also now available as a graphic novel from Dark Horse. Check it out and let me know what you think!