Clean Room #18 - A Review

The Clean Room is back under Astrid Mueller's control. Yet even that patch of sacred ground may not be enough to protect her, her allies or humanity from The Entity's invasion of our reality. Is this humanity's final hour?!
There is little to say about this issue beyond my being sorry it took me so long to get around to reviewing it (Tax/Con Season - am I right?) Clean Room was a unique horror title unlike anything we've seen before in American Comics. Hopefully this will not be its final hour and we'll get to see the Second Season suggested by the sales blurb on Comixology. Still, if this must be the end, it is a fantastic and fitting one.

Final Analysis: 10 out of 10. If you haven't been reading it, get the first TP now! 

Clean Room #17 - A Review

The Entities have unleashed their first major offensive upon our world. It is the moment that Astird Mueller has been preparing for all her life, yet she isn't leading the attack. Instead, she is saving her most loyal follower and her fiercest detractor from the mind of the madman who has taken over The Clean Room...


I apologize for the relative brevity of this review but there's little I can say without giving away the game. How do you describe the ocean to someone who doesn't know what water is?

I can say this. Clean Room is easily the strongest new horror title to come out of Vertigo Comics in years and it is some of the finest work to date from Gail Simone, Walter Geovani and Quinton Winter. If you haven't been reading it, do yourself a favor and get the back issues. You'll thank me later.

Clean Room #16 - A Review

I've seen some critics besides myself complain that Clean Room has been taking too much time in building its tension. While slow-boiling thrillers are an acquired taste (personally, I love them) and I can sympathize with the annoyance of waiting three months for a resolution of issue #14's amazing cliff-hanger, I can't help but scoff at that criticism after reading Clean Room #16. Because this is the issue where everything started to pay off!


I can't say much about this issue to the uninitiated. Suffice it to say the page above - in which an infant possessed by demonic forces explains their plans for humanity - is probably one of the least disturbing and least spoiler-filled in the issue. If you're a horror fan, you NEED to be reading this series!

Clean Room #15 - A Review

I was happy to see Clean Room #15 on the solicitations for this week. Of course I'm always pleased when Clean Room comes out but after the cliff-hanger ending of Issue #14 two weeks ago, I was particularly anxious to see how things would continue. Imagine my surprise then that Clean Room #15 is an interlude, focused not upon our usual protagonist but on a woman named Mary who - much like Chloe Pierce - is plagued by disturbing visions of a dead loved one.


Gail Simone's story this time gives us a different view of Astrid Mueller's organization but the writing is as engaging as ever. The change in the point-of-view is further enhanced by the contributions of guest-artist Sanya Anwar. While as talented as Walter Geovani and Jon Davis-Hunt, Anwar presents the story in a style that sports a different aesthetic, marking this story as something notably unique but equally enjoyable. Quinton Winter further alters the visual flow, taking over the coloring duties and instituting a subtle palette shift as Astrid's organization moves into Mary's life.

Clean Room #14 - A Review

Journalist Chloe Pierce had set out to destroy self-help guru Astrid Mueller. That was before Chloe discovered the true purpose of Mueller's empire and the existence of the alien entities that sought mankind's destruction. Now Mueller is trying to recruit Pierce as her second-in-command, bringing Chloe in to confront Mueller's entity-possessed niece. The arrival of one of Mueller's stalkers only complicates matters...


Just when I thought Clean Room couldn't get any more disturbing, Gail Simone has topped herself. Walter Geovani - Simone's partner on her recent Red Sonja run - proves a perfect replacement for the series' original artist, Jon Davis-Hunt. Geovani and colorist Quinton Winter prove quite the dynamic duo when it comes to bringing Simone's scripts to life. If you're any kind of horror fan - even if you don't like comics - you should give Clean Room a try.

Clean Room #12 - A Review

Having survived an assassination attempt (for which the would-be assassin is SO apologetic), self-help guru Astrid Mueller must now contend with the hostile take-over of her organization. Meanwhile, in The Clean Room itself, journalist Chloe Pierce must contend with an entirely different kind of invasion and perform a miracle of sorts to save the world!


I think my future reviews of Clean Room will have to discuss whole story arcs rather than individual issues. The story that Gail Simone has woven here is so complex that it defies easy summation in monthly recaps. Suffice it to say this is a fantastic horror story that is sure to please fans of the genre.

This is apparently Jon Davis-Hunt's final issue on the series and I shall be sad to see him go. Simone has praised Davis-Hunt as an equal partner on the series on Twitter and it cannot be denied that his gorgeous artwork (backed by the fantastic color art of Quinton Winter) was as much a draw as Simone's writing. Hopefully someone equally talented will be coming on-board next month.

Clean Room #11 - A Review

Astrid Mueller is still in seclusion as a sinister Evangelic group makes a power play to take over her organization. At the same time, The Entities Astrid has devoted her life to fighting are preparing to go to war over the torture of one of their own. Only reporter Chloe Pierce has a chance of stopping that battle, thanks to a secret of her own. But could it be too late for her to turn the tide?
It's growing increasingly difficult for me to summarize each individual issue of this series in a way that makes sense to the uninitiated. Such is the complexity of the universe Gail Simone has crafted in a surprisingly short time. Her tales are matched in complexity by the vividly detailed artwork of Jon Davis-Hunt and the vibrant colors of Quinton Winter. I've said it before and I'll say it again - if you are any kind of horror fan, you need to be reading Clean Room.

Clean Room #10 - A Review

Following her near death and miraculous salvation at the hands of one of the entities she's devoted her life to studying and destroying, Astrid Meuller has gone into seclusion. As a shadowy Christian organization attempts a hostile takeover of Meuller's organization, her underlings try once again to recruit her chosen successor - journalist Chloe Pierce. But Chloe wants nothing to do with Mueller's empire apart from destroying it - particularly now that they've captured her friend, the benevolent entity Spark.

Clean Room is becoming increasingly difficult for me to review. There are only so many words of praise I can keep applying to this wonderful little book.  Gail Simone, Jon Davis-Hunt and Quinton Winter have crafted a true masterpiece of horror and you're a damned fool if you're not reading it.

Clean Room #9 - A Review

For most of her life, Astrid Meuller has been fighting a war against other-worldly entities that few people notice and even fewer can fight. Now, on death's door following an assassin's attack, she has asked that Chloe Pierce - an enemy of sorts who is one of the only other people she trusts to be competent enough to continue her work - be brought to the Clean Room, which the entities are unable to enter under normal circumstances.  Unfortunately, Chloe brought an univited guest with her - an entity called Spark, who she believes to be far more benevolent than the manipulative Meuller...

If you aren't reading this book by now, I don't know what I can say that will convince you of your folly. What Gail Simone, Jon Davis-Hunt and Quinton Winter have created is easily the most original and best crafted series to come out of Vertigo in some time. Clean Room is a must read for all lovers of the strange and unusual.

Clean Room #8 - A Review

Astrid Mueller is a polarizing figure, whether you believe she's a simple self-help author or a dangerous cult leader. Such people make enemies easily and one of them has finally succeeded in getting an assassin close enough to do some damage. Now, with Mueller at Death's Door, her staff seek to follow the directions she left in case of this occurrence. To their shock, her instructions involve journalist Chloe Pierce, who has dedicated her life to bringing down Mueller and her organization!


I can honestly say I was not expecting what happened in this issue of Clean Room to happen. Such is the magic of this series that Gail Simone finds ways to shock the reader each month. I won't spoil the many surprises of this issue here (difficult as that makes it to discuss the story) but I will say that if you have yet to give this series a shot, this issue is a good one to start with if you can't track down the originals and don't want to wait for the upcoming TP collection.


The art team matches Simone's scripts with a subtle style that belies the dark nature of the story. The colors by Quinton Winter are crisp and bright. And Jon Davis-Hunt's artwork features largely realistic designs and light inks which only serve to set a sedate illusion through which the madness of the world can suddenly reveal itself.

Clean Room #7 - A Review

The character of Astrid Mueller has been one of the most intriguing aspects of Clean Room since the first issue. I'd go so far as to say that she's a far more interesting character than protagonist Chloe Pierce. This is partly because our picture of who Astrid Mueller is and what her precise motivations are was so incomplete that it was unclear, based on what we did know, if she could be classified as an antagonist.

Journalist Chloe Pierce certainly thought of Astrid as an enemy, blaming self-help guru Mueller for her fiancee's suicide as she threw herself into investigating the chain of people who died after getting deeply involved with Mueller's organization. But we saw just enough of Mueller's tragic past and her responses to the events of the first issue to see that she wasn't precisely a villain. She isn't motivated by God or Gold but is possessed of a certain ruthless efficiency and a tendency to view people as objects to be manipulated.


This stand-alone issue clarifies a little bit more of Astrid Mueller's past and motivations. We still don't know everything, thank goodness. (Everyone loves a good mystery!)  Enough is revealed, however, to firmly establish Astrid as an ally of humanity at large, if not necessarily a friendly or helpful character to Chloe Pierce.

Recently, Clean Room has drawn comparison to Grant Morrison's Invisibles from other critics. I respectfully disagree. While both comics broadly deal with the concept of alien invaders from beyond reality, there's a clear structure to what Gail Simone has crafted and a sense that the picture is slowly being unveiled in contrast to Morrison's anarchic style of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks. Personally, I find Simone's approach more effective.


Simone's excellent script is well-matched by the artwork of Jon Davis-Hunt. There is a clarity to his work here that seems more appropriate to a traditional superhero comic than the sort of artwork we usually associate with a Vertigo title. That makes it all the more shocking when we get violent scenes such as the one in this issue where a teenage girl is dissected while still alive. The color art by Quinton Winter completes these images perfectly.

If you have yet to experience Clean Room, this issue is a fine place to start reading. This series is easily the best original series to come out of Vertigo in years. I'd track down the back-issues if I could but this is the perfect catch-up issue for new readers.

Clean Room #6 - A Review

Chloe Pierce may have finally found the answers behind the violent death of her fiancee. But will those answers just lead to more questions? And will she survive long enough to act on the knowledge when one of the otherworldly beings Astrid Mueller has devoted her life to studying come for her?


There is little I can say about this issue beyond that little summary above. Suffice it to say that the key questions regarding this series are answered but, like Chloe, we are still only looking at a part of the picture. And, like Chloe, the reader is left wanting to know more about the secrets behind this world.

In Clean Room, Gail Simone and Jon Davis-Hunt have crafted one of the greatest horror stories I've ever read. This work can proudly stand on the same shelf as Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft. If you are any kind of thriller fan, you owe it to yourself to read this series!

Clean Room #5 - A Review

Self-help guru Astrid Mueller's empire is in danger of crumbling, following the public suicide of her most famous patient. She doesn't care. Because she's finally captured the entity that attacked her as a child. Now, as her underlings go into full damage control mode and work to save their boss' business, journalist Chloe Pierce has her own strange encounter with a seemingly demonic creature.

Five issues in and I'm still not quite sure what to make of Clean Room. Summarizing the story without giving away spoilers is increasingly difficult, for this revolutionary story defies easy classification.  While I can't say exactly where this comic is going, I can say that Gail Simone is giving us one hell of a ride taking us there.


I can also say that Jon Davis-Hunt's artwork is wonderful. Unlike most horror comics, which drown the page in ink and shadows, Davis-Hunt offers us bright, clear figures drawn in light pencils with bright colors and some rather neat lighting effects in the color art. The final effect is all the more horrific for how pleasant it looks!

Clean Room #4 - A Review

Self-help guru Astrid Mueller has had a breakthrough! She has made contact with something not of this world - the thing that was responsible for nearly killing her as a child. Meanwhile, investigative reporter Chloe Pierce returns home to a strange encounter of her own...


Reviewing Clean Room is more difficult for me than most comics. Usually I can just summarize what has happened thus far in my head and the thoughts come naturally. In the case of this series, I am so continually surprised I find it impossible to quantify beyond saying that it is a gripping read. Take that for what you will but Gail Simone is outdoing herself, in this critic's opinion.


The artwork by Jon Davis-Hunt proves equally amazing. He excels at portraying both the mundane and the magical - and there is plenty of both in this series so far! Truly, this is one of the best series Vertigo has put out in years!

Clean Room #3 - A Review

Despite having seen The Clean Room at the heart of self-help guru Astrid Mueller's empire, journalist Chloe Pierce is no closer to answers regarding her fiancee's mysterious death. Conversely, Mueller seems to be getting closer to the answers she seeks in examining her patients. And as one of Mueller's underlings approaches Pierce with an interesting proposition, someone (or something) is confronted by Pierce's neighbors as it breaks into her home...

Three issues in and I'm still not sure precisely what to make of this series. Yet for once I find that ignorance exciting rather than annoying. Gail Simone has once again crafted a masterful thriller that is sure to please horror enthusiasts as well as her most loyal fans.

The artwork by Jon Davis-Hunt continues to equal Simone's scripts. His artwork maintains a unique clarity while still possessing astonishing detail relative to the streamlined pencils and light inks. This is one of the best looking books I've seen this year.

Clean Room #2 - A Review

Freelance journalist Chloe Pierce lost her fiance after he committed suicide shortly after becoming a devotee of self-help guru Astrid Mueller. Convinced that Mueller is hiding something even before uncovering a trail of similarly broken people who died after giving themselves over Mueller's organization, Pierce arranges an interview and forces a confrontation. And now she is about to be given a glimpse at The Clean Room...


It is not astonishing that Gail Simone - the queen of dark comic comedy - should write so chilling and thrilling a graphic novel as Clean Room. What is astonishing is that she did not write such a series sooner. Simone has dealt with disturbing subject matter before but never with such stark realism or coolness. It's unclear precisely where this series is going after two chapters but I would favorably compare it to any season of American Horror Story.


Of course a graphic novel is only as good as its artist and Simone has a perfect partner in Jon Davis-Hunt. His style would not look out of place in a mainstream superhero book, with smoothly defined characters and realistic proportions. When it comes time to depict the monsters under the bed, however, Davis-Hunt is more than capable of rendering a suitably stylized demon.