animus
[ an-uh-muh s ] NOUN
strong dislike or enmity; hostile attitude; animosity.
purpose; intention; animating spirit.
(in the psychology of C. G. Jung) the masculine principle, especially as present in women (contrasted with anima).
How can you sleep at night knowing you crushed my soul? How could you rip my heart out? How dare you create a horrific masterpiece? Was the clue I saw a clue?
Animus is a graphic novel I found by accident. First/Second mentioned that they had acquired Revoy’s latest graphic novel. I figured it was to come out “soon” and were gearing up for the promotional phase). Instead, it will not be out until late 2020; but figured I should read something by him to see if I liked him. I ordered Animus on Tuesday; arrived Wednesday afternoon and Wednesday night I was done.
I mean physically and emotionally done. I was nauseas. And not just from the weather or the macaroni salad I had eaten. Revoy just knows how to spin a tale. Based on the Japanese and French comics of his youth, this modern tale is a thriller-horror story. There is no “blood, guts or gore” per say, but there are skeletons, children turned into old men and women. The theme is simple: an innocent looking playground has more than one not-so-innocent piece to it: swings you can enter others dreams with, statues that let you hear the thoughts of people and animals, a slide that turns you into a baby if you climb up or an old person if slide down. And the most sinister is the masked-child. Is he there because he is a child-ghost, unable to cross over or is his goal darker?
Traditional graphic novel format with sparse text, the right details to illustrations weave this story together. The black and white illustrations at first were slightly off-putting but are perfect for the atmosphere of the theme. Could this have been a Twilight Zone episode? Probably. It is innocent, until it is not. It has a twist ending even I did not see.