Lenni Reviews: 100 Months by John Hicklenton
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In
a sea of digitally augmented art, it was the impressive brush work of the art
that first attracted me to this title. I'm sure there has been some digital assistance in creating "100 Months" but the ink, pen, and paint work here is a feast for the eyes. When it came across my desk for revision, I had to stop and take a look. I immediately read it cover to cover. Twice.
This book is a primal, visceral, personal battle with
death, desire, and rage. Hicklenton was in the final stages of his battle with
Multiple Sclerosis when creating this work. In it you can see the innermost
feelings of a man who is railing against his fate with everything that he has;
his faith shaken as his own body betrays him. His anger is expressed through the goddess Mara tearing through the artifice of worldly desires; depicted as
the Pig God and his disciples.
“100 Months” is not an easy read. The art is fantastic
but gory; the theme meaningful but depressing. Stradling the line between high
fantasy and horror, this comic really highlights what the medium can express when
in the hands of a master. This book is completely and utterly uncompromising
and a fitting last work if there ever was one. RIP Jon Hicklenton. What you
have created will live forever.
